Paul Stirling’s century guided Ireland to a five-wicket win and 2-1 series victory over Afghanistan in the final ODI after the bowlers restricted them to a low total in Sharjah on Sunday.
George Dockrell (4/28) and Barry McCarthy (3/32) helped the Irish dismiss Afghanistan for just 177. McCarthy, who took his first five-wicket haul in Thursday’s win, did most of the damage along with Dockrell, as Afghanistan failed to set a competitive target on board.
Afghanistan had to bring in Shapoor Zadran into the XI to replace Dawlat Zadran, who was reportedly injured.
Ireland cruised to the win in 38 overs with opener Stirling hitting 101 from 97 balls while Andrew Balbirnie adding valuable 35 runs after Porterfield was dismissed early by Mujeeb Zadran.
Earlier, Only Rahmat Shah and Rashid Khan offered any real resistance as both made 44, while Javed Ahmadi scored 27 at the top of the order.
From 1 down we recovered to defeat @ACBofficials today by 5 wickets to take our 1st Series as a Full Member 2-1 thanks to a century from @stirlo90 & 4-28 from @georgedockrell in a brilliant team performance, a great send-off for @Irelandcricket Coach John Bracewell, #ThanksJohn pic.twitter.com/RYpQGcEslL
— Cricket Ireland (@cricketireland) December 10, 2017
With the first series win since 2015 ICC World Cup, head coach John Bracewell ends his time in charge and hands the reigns over to incoming head coach, Graham Ford, as Ireland look forward to World Cup Qualifiers and debut Test match in 2018.
