Stirling, Dockrell star as Ireland win Afghanistan series

Fine knocks from George Dockrell and Paul Stirling on either side of a mid-overs collapse, followed by a bowling performance that had discipline written all over, helped Ireland stay alive in the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan as they secured a 51-run victory in Sharjah on Thursday (December 7).

After a 115-run opening stand between Stirling and skipper William Porterfield, Ireland's innings came undone as the spin duo of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Zadran ran amok, reducing the European side to 188 for 6. However, Dockrell, batting at No. 8, registered his maiden ODI fifty to help the visitors post a competitive total of 271.

On a pitch that had little assistance for either the batsmen or the bowlers, Ireland's bowlers excelled in the game of patience with their accurate line and lengths, ensuring that they picked up wickets at regular intervals despite all of Afghanistan's top six managing double digit scores. Barry McCarthy led the show with the ball by bagging his maiden five wicket-haul as Afghanistan were bowled out for 220.

It was a circumspect start from the Afghanistan openers in the chase as they appeared keen to pace their innings and not attempt anything too flashy. Having just about managed to find the gap between cover and mid-off for his first boundary, Javed Ahmadi was happy to concentrate on strike rotation while putting away the short deliveries to the fence whenever the opportunity arose. Ihsanullah, barring a six over mid-wicket off Tim Murtagh and a mis-timed loft over long-off, also preferred remaining on the side of caution as Afghanistan managed 43 in the first 10 overs.

While the opening stand, worth 46 runs, came to an end when Barry McCarthy found the gap between Ihsanullah's bat and pad to strike timber, Ahmadi continued with his judicious approach, playing the anchor's role. He found a partner in kind in the form of Rahmat Shah as they raised a half-century stand with minimum risk. However, the short ball, which had given Ahmadi the majority of his boundaries, also caused his downfall as he pulled a McCarthy delivery straight to Dockrell to fall two short of a half-century. Failing to convert good starts seemed like a trend in Afghanistan's top order as Rahmat too departed, stumped off Dockrell after being beaten by a turning delivery, followed by skipper Asghar Stanikzai, who also reached double digits before failing in his attempt to to clear the mid-wicket fence.

Nasir Jamal, the half-centurion in the previous game, appeared scratchy and also struggled to rotate strike while Mohammad Nabi, at the other end, tried to keep Afghanistan on track with his positive batting. Despite their contrasting approaches, the pair managed to stick together and stitch a fifty-run stand before Nabi departed, chopping on a delivery from Peter Chase, who bagged his second wicket an over later by sending back Gulbadin Naib. McCarthy then ended Jamal's struggle and picked up the wicket of Shafiqullah, off successive deliveries. While Dawlat Zadran managed to negotiate the hat-trick ball safely, he ended up being McCarthy's fifty scalp, which was followed by the run out of Rashid Khan who lost his bat before reaching the crease, ending Afghanistan's innings in the 46th over.

Earlier, opting to bat, Ireland got off to a good start thanks to Stirling, who managed boundaries at regular intervals even as Porterfield took a while to get going. Afghanistan's hopes of exposing Ireland's weakness against spin bowling early in the innings, by asking Mujeeb to open the attack, didn't quite materialise as Stirling's positive intent translated into two fours off the spinner in the opening over. Although Mujeeb managed to keep it relatively quiet in his next three overs in his spell during the powerplay he didn't pick up any wickets while Dawlat Zadran leaked boundaries.

As the innings progressed, Porterfield managed to make up for his quiet start and Stirling raised his bat for a 51-ball fifty - his 14th half-century in ODIs and fifth against Afghanistan - to bring up the century stand. The pair continued in a solid manner and even managed to keep Ireland's chief tormenter in recent times - Rashid - at bay. But an attempt to pull Naib brought about Porterfield's dismissal for 47, which then caused a mid-innings slide as Ireland lost six wickets for 73 runs, with the spinners accounting for four of those.

A rearguard action from Dockrell and Stuart Poynter led Ireland past the 200-run mark but the latter was out caught and bowled off Nabi, which ended a seventh-wicket association worth 29 runs. But the dismissal didn't deter Dockrell from playing his strokes. He took a liking to Dawlat, managing three fours off the pacer, who ended up with figures of 2 for 65 after picking up the wicket of McCarthy off the last ball of his spell. Dockrell was unperturbed as he brought up a 45-ball half-century with a four off Nabi in the final over and also cleared the long-on fence for a mighty six to help Ireland end the innings on a positive note.