Rashid Khan played a pivotal role in a tense run chase to guide Afghanistan to a three-wicket victory over Ireland, establishing a 2-0 lead in their five-match ODI series. Beyond the series advantage, the win officially secured Afghanistan’s qualification for next year’s World Cup, marking their fourth consecutive appearance in the prestigious tournament.
Sent in to bowl, Afghanistan made an early breakthrough through Fazalhaq Farooqi, who removed Andrew Balbirnie. Paul Stirling and Cade Carmichael briefly stabilized the innings, but Yamin Ahmadzai broke their partnership, triggering a collapse. Rashid Khan trapped Carmichael LBW, while AM Ghazanfar dismantled the middle order by dismissing Lorcan Tucker and Curtis Campher in quick succession. By the 21.3-over mark, Ireland had lost half their side, and their situation worsened when Rashid dismissed Harry Tector with a googly.
Despite the top-order failure, Ireland found resilience in the lower order. Gavin Hoey and Jai Moondra combined for a 76-run partnership for the ninth wicket, lifting the team from a precarious 128/8 to a total of 206 all out in 46.3 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai eventually ended the resistance in the 47th over. For Afghanistan, Ghazanfar finished with 3-29 and Rashid claimed 3-44.
Afghanistan’s chase began aggressively, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz hitting two sixes off Jai Moondra. While Ibrahim Zadran struggled to find his rhythm, Sediqullah Atal provided steady support. Gurbaz reached his half-century with another six, but the dismissal of Rahmat Shah caused a brief wobble. The game tightened further when Gavin Hoey claimed the wickets of Hashmatullah Shahidi and Gurbaz, followed by a flurry of wickets that left Afghanistan reeling at 177/7 after Mark Adair dismissed Omarzai.
With 30 runs still required and only three wickets in hand, Rashid Khan took control of the situation. He anchored the innings while Yamin Ahmadzai played a supporting role, ensuring no further breakthroughs for the Irish bowlers. Rashid’s composed batting ultimately steered Afghanistan to 207/7 in 44.5 overs. The final scorecard saw Afghanistan win by three wickets, with Gurbaz contributing 71 runs and Rashid finishing unbeaten on 37, while Hoey returned impressive figures of 4-34 in a losing cause.
Losing half their side in just 21.3 overs, Ireland were in deep trouble and faced a tough task to bat out the remaining overs.
The two players joined forces when Ireland were languishing at 128/8 and managed to add 76 valuable runs for the ninth wicket to drag Ireland past 200.
Chasing just 207, Afghanistan got off to a flying start with Rahmanullah Gurbaz striking two sixes off Jai Moondra.
However, Paul Stirling and Cade Carmichael steadied the ship and fetched timely boundaries to hand the momentum to the home side.
Yamin Ahmadzai, who came into the XI for this fixture, broke the partnership and from then on, things went south for the hosts.
Even though Gurbaz smashed another six to get to his fifty, Rahmat Shah getting castled caused a little flutter.
Just when it appeared Afghanistan recovered from that blip and put the chase back on track, Hoey struck again.
