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Mohammad Nabi's five-wicket haul helped Afghanistan clinch a 117-run win over Ireland in the 3rd ODI at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah on Tuesday.
Hashmatullah Shahidi's Afghanistan also sealed a series win by 2-0, after securing victory in the first and final 50-over match. The second ODI match of the series was abondoned after rain played a spoilsport. After winning the toss, Paul Stirling's Irish side decided to send the Afghan squad to bat first. However, their decision did not go in their favour as Ireland's bowling attack failed to perform well. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (51 runs from 53 balls) and Ibrahim Zadran (22 runs from 31 balls) opened for Afghanistan and played a partnership of 62 runs, which helped the hosts to get a fiery start in the game. Gurbaz hit 7 fours and 1 six at a strike rate of 96.23. Meanwhile, Zadran smashed only 3 fours at a 70.97 strike rate. After the dismissal of the Afghan openers, Shahidi (69 runs from 103 balls) played a crucial knock to maintain Afghanistan's run rate in the game. The Afghan skipper slammed 4 fours at a strike rate of 66.99. At the end of the first inning, Mohammad Nabi (48 runs from 62 balls) played a crucial role powered Afghanistan's total to 236/9. He smashed 3 fours at a strike rate of 77.42. On the other hand, Mark Adair led the Irish bowling attack after he scalped three wickets in his 10-over spell. He also gifted 51 runs in the first inning. While Barry McCarthy bagged 2 wickets in his nine-over spell. Apart from them, Theo van Woerkom, Andy McBrine, and Harry Tector picked up one wicket each in their respective spells. During the run chase, Andrew Balbirnie (1 run from 8 balls) and skipper Stirling (50 runs from 53 balls) failed to make a crucial partnership and lead Ireland to chase the target of 237 runs. However, Stirling played a captain's knock but his half-century went in vain even after hitting 4 fours and 2 sixes. Later, Curtis Campher (43 runs from 63 balls) played an important knock. But after dismissal, no other Irish batters could stand in front of the Afghan bowling attack. Nabi's fifer and Nangyal Kharoti's four-wicket haul helped Afghanistan to bundle out the Irish side at 119 in just 35 overs. While Fazalhaq Farooqi could just pick one wicket in his 5-over spell. After displaying a stupendous performance with both bat and ball, Nabi was named the 'Player of the Match'. On the other hand, Gurbaz was crowned the 'Player of the Series' after he ended the series as the highest run scorer with 172 runs at an average of 86.00. Brief score: Afghanistan 236/9 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 51, Hashmatullah Shahidi 69, Mohammad Nabi 48; Mark Adair 3/51) beat Ireland 119 (Paul Stirling 50, Curtis Campher 43, Barry McCarthy 8; Mohammad Nabi 5/17). (ANI)
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