Irish cricket team against Afghanistan in the UAE in 2017–18

Irish cricket team against Afghanistan in 2017–18
	Afghanistan	Ireland
Dates	5 – 10 December 2017
Captains	Asghar Stanikzai	William Porterfield
One Day International series
Results	Ireland won the 3-match series 2–1
Most runs	Rahmat Shah (126)	Paul Stirling (188)
Most wickets	Rashid Khan (7) Mujeeb Ur Rahman (7)	Barry McCarthy (8)
Player of the series	Paul Stirling (Ire)

The Ireland cricket team toured the United Arab Emirates in December 2017 to play three One Day Internationals (ODIs) against the Afghanistan cricket team.^[1][2][3] The matches were used as a warm-up for the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier, which took place in Zimbabwe in March 2018.^[4] Ireland won the series 2–1.^[5]

Squads

Afghanistan[6]	Ireland[7]
Asghar Stanikzai (c) Javed Ahmadi Amir Hamza Ihsanullah Nasir Jamal Rashid Khan Zahir Khan Mohammad Nabi Gulbadin Naib Shafiqullah Rahmat Shah Dawlat Zadran Mujeeb Zadran Najibullah Zadran Noor Ali Zadran Shapoor Zadran	William Porterfield (c) John Anderson Andrew Balbirnie Peter Chase George Dockrell Ed Joyce Barry McCarthy Jacob Mulder Tim Murtagh Kevin O'Brien Niall O'Brien Stuart Poynter Boyd Rankin Simi Singh Paul Stirling Gary Wilson

Ahead of the series, Ed Joyce was ruled out of Ireland's squad with a knee injury, with John Anderson replacing him.^[8] Niall O'Brien initially returned home to Ireland for personal reasons and was replaced by Stuart Poynter, but he re-joined the squad prior to the series.^[9][10]

ODI series

1st ODI

5 December 2017 14:30 (D/N) Scorecard

Afghanistan  238/9 (50 overs)	v	Ireland 100 (31.4 overs)
Nasir Jamal 53 (63) Boyd Rankin 4/44 (10 overs)		William Porterfield 35 (63) Mujeeb Ur Rahman 4/24 (10 overs)

Afghanistan won by 138 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) and Ruchira Palliyaguruge (SL) Player of the match: Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afg)

• Ireland won the toss and elected to field.
• Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afg) made his ODI debut and became the first male to play international cricket who was born in the 21st century.^[11]
• Kevin O'Brien became the first player for Ireland to take 100 wickets in ODIs.^[12]
• Mujeeb Ur Rahman took the joint-best figures for an Afghan bowler on debut in ODIs.^[13]

2nd ODI

7 December 2017 14:30 (D/N) Scorecard

Ireland  271/9 (50 overs)	v	Afghanistan 220 (45.2 overs)
Paul Stirling 82 (96) Rashid Khan 2/40 (10 overs)		Javed Ahmadi 48 (67) Barry McCarthy 5/46 (9 overs)

Ireland won by 51 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Ruchira Palliyaguruge (SL) and Izatullah Safi (Afg) Player of the match: Barry McCarthy (Ire)

• Ireland won the toss and elected to bat.
• Barry McCarthy (Ire) took his first five-wicket haul in ODIs.^[14]

3rd ODI

10 December 2017 14:30 (D/N) Scorecard

Afghanistan  177 (48.2 overs)	v	Ireland 180/5 (38 overs)
Rashid Khan 44 (55) George Dockrell 4/28 (9 overs)		Paul Stirling 101 (97) Rashid Khan 2/17 (9 overs)

Ireland won by 5 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) and Ruchira Palliyaguruge (SL) Player of the match: Paul Stirling (Ire)

• Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat.

References

1. "Afghanistan to play Ireland, Zimbabwe in Sharjah". Times of India. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
2. "Afghanistan cricket team to play three match-ODI series against Ireland at Sharjah in December". Times Now. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
3. "Sharjah to host Afghanistan's ODI series against Ireland and Test involving Zimbabwe". The National. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
4. "Ireland to take on Afghanistan in Sharjah". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
5. "Stirling, Dockrell guide Ireland to series win". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
6. "Mujeeb Zadran called for the ODI Series against Ireland". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Archived from the original on 3 December 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
7. "Ireland Squad for Intercontinental Cup Tie With Scotland Announced". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
8. "Injured Ed Joyce out of Ireland ODI series". RTE. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
9. "Niall O'Brien: Wicketkeeper-batsman returns home from Ireland's UAE tour". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
10. "Afghanistan, Ireland tune up for World Cup qualifiers". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
11. "Mujeeb Zadran becomes the first male International cricketer from the 21st century". Crictracker. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
12. "Teenage debutant Mujeeb helps Afghanistan rout Ireland". Times of India. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
13. "Debutant Mujeeb knocks Ireland over". Wisden India. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
14. "McCarthy's five-wicket haul helps Ireland level series". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 December 2017.

External links

• Series home at ESPN Cricinfo