Ireland vs Afghanistan, 3rd ODI: Presenting match preview and stats
What's the story
Afghanistan are just one win away from qualifying for the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup. The top-eight ODI teams as of September 2026 will qualify directly for the tournament, as per Cricinfo. Rahmat Shah's team recently defeated Ireland in the second ODI match, putting them in a strong position to secure their spot in the upcoming 2027 ODI World Cup to be hosted in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Match highlights
Summary of the 2nd ODI
In the second ODI, Ibrahim Zadran scored a steady 84 while Hasmatullah Shahidi scored an unbeaten 36 off just 21 balls as Afghanistan scored 299/8 in 47 overs.
Mohammed Saleem was Afghanistan's most expensive bowler but managed to rattle the Irish batsmen with his pace and zip.
Despite their efforts in a chase of 300, Ireland lost the match by a huge margin of 92 runs after failing to chase down a target of 156 runs from 137 balls with seven wickets remaining.
Game analysis
Ireland's missed chances in 2nd ODI
Ireland, now trailing 0-1 in the five-match series, squandered two winning positions.
They conceded 95 runs in the last 11 overs with the ball and lost seven wickets for just 63 runs while chasing.
Despite these setbacks, Ireland did have some positives like Cade Carmichael's knock of 62 and Ben Calitz's quickfire innings of 27 off just 15 balls on his debut.
Leadership transition
Rahmat's captaincy debut
Rahmat made his captaincy debut for Afghanistan in the second ODI.
He scored 30 runs but led his team to victory by sending Shahidi lower down the order, which paid off.
All five of his bowlers delivered well under pressure.
Despite facing tougher tests ahead, this positive start as a captain will definitely boost Rahmat's confidence leading up to the World Cup.
Ireland
Here's how Ireland can qualify for 2027 ODI World Cup
Ireland's hopes of qualifying directly for the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup were dashed after their first match against Afghanistan was washed out.
The rain-affected game in Bready ended without a toss, left Ireland with no chance to secure a direct entry into the global tournament.
Ireland will now have to take part in a 10-team Qualifier tournament. The winner of this tournament will get a direct entry into the main group of the World Cup.
Probable XIs
Probable XIs of Ireland and Afghanistan
Ireland probable XI: Paul Stirling (captain), Andy Balbirnie, Cade Carmichael, Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Ben Calitz, Mark Adair, Gavin Hoey, Jai Moondra, Byron McDonough.
AFG probable XI: Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Rahmat Shah (captain), Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Mohammad Saleem, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Information
H2H record between the two teams
Ireland and Afghanistan have clashed 33 times in ODIs. Afghanistan have claimed 19 wins compared to Ireland's 13. Notably, one match didn't have any result.
Numbers
Player focus: Here are the stats
Zadran clocked his 10th ODI fifty in the previous match against Ireland. He also owns six tons. Zadran raced to 1,986 runs from 43 games at 49.65 and is 14 shy of 2,000-run mark.
Rashid Khan was brilliant and stamped his authority with 6/34 from 7.4 overs in the previous clash.
Rashid owns 220 wickets from 121 ODIs (113 innings) at 19.54 (5w: 7).
Rashid has amassed 61 scalps from 27 ODIs against Ireland at 15.95 (5w: 2).
Poll
