Sport
Ireland beat Afghanistan in the fifth match to win 3-2
Ireland clinched the series 3-2 against Afghanistan on Wednesday night when they secured a seven-wicket victory over the visitors.
Mark Adair saw his first two deliveries flayed to the off side boundary only to respond with two wickets in as many balls in the game’s second over. Hazratullah Zazai sliced one to mid off where Simi Singh took a good over the shoulder catch while Rahmanullah Gurbaz nicked off the next ball.
Afghanistan wrested back some momentum when Usman Ghahu bludgeoned 20 off Singh’s solitary over, but a double strike from Josh Little — the second via a stunning Lorcan Tucker catch behind the stumps — put Ireland back in control before the rain came.
That brought the Afghanistan innings to a close. Ireland were eventually given seven overs to chase just 56. Andrew Balbirnie launched an early boundary over mid off while Paul Stirling also found the rope on two occasions to ensure Ireland kept up with the rate.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman did remove the openers to give Afghanistan a sniff but Harry Tector combined with George Dockrell to see the side home.