IRE vs AFG 2026, IRE vs AFG 3rd ODI Match Report, August 10, 2026

Afghanistan 207 for 7 (Gurbaz 71, Rashid 37*, Hoey 4-34) beat Eire 206 (Hoey 36, Ghazanfar 3-29, Rashid 3-44) by three wickets

A match that swung wildly from one facet to the opposite finally ended with Afghanistan clinching a thriller to seal their spot within the 2027 ODI World Cup in Southern Africa, courtesy of their world celebrity, Rashid Khan.

At 176 for 7, Eire had been greater than in with a sniff of defending 206. However Rashid held agency, making 37 of probably the most beneficial runs to assist his crew cross the road. Rashid’s batting efforts topped up a usually aggressive spell of legspin that fetched him 3 for 44 earlier within the afternoon, a spell that turned the tables on Eire together with thriller spinner AM Ghazanfar.

Trailing 1-0 down within the five-match sequence, Eire put up a spirited defence. From 97 for two, Gavin Hoey bowled a terrific spell of legspin himself. He lulled batters with flight, troubled them with dip and sharp flip and instantly discovered himself in with an opportunity of delivering a knockout blow.

His 4 for 34 via the center overs – together with the prized scalp of opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 71 – cracked the sport open. On the different finish, he was properly complemented by seamer Mark Adair, who continued to reap minute deviations off the deck all via the night. However in having to go all out, Eire finally ran out of steam as soon as Hoey bowled out by the thirty third over.

That Eire made a fist of this was right down to a record ninth-wicket stand between Jai Moondra and Hoey. The pair added 76 for the ninth wicket after Eire had been in tatters at 128 for 8, all at sea towards the turning ball in situations that had been removed from treacherous. Hoey high scored with 36, whereas Moondra made 31 enterprising runs in simply his second ODI innings. He was simply the extra adventurous of the 2 throughout their partnership, displaying wonderful recreation consciousness and footwork to counter the Afghan spin risk.

Having walloped a full toss first up, Moondra hit 4 extra boundaries in his knock, earlier than nicking behind to Gurbaz to provide comeback man Yamin Ahmadzai – enjoying his first ODI since 2022 – his second wicket. The innings ended within the forty seventh over when Hoey was bowled trying a giant hit down the bottom off Azmatullah Omarzai. By then, Rashid and Ghazanfar, who ripped via the highest order to select up the wickets of Lorcan Tucker, Curtis Campher and Ben Calitz, had mixed figures of 6 for 73.

Gurbaz took the assault to the quick bowlers within the chase, feasting on something pitched up. He was notably aggressive towards Moondra, the left-arm seamer, who did not fairly handle to extract the identical motion as Adair in situations tailored for the quicks in Belfast.

Gurbaz waltzed to his eighth ODI fifty with a heave over deep midwicket, however then needed to buckle down within the face of some fast wickets. Sediqullah Atal dragged a flighted supply from Hoey to long-on for 27, and Rahmat Shah, the captain, was bowled by an outstanding nip backer from Adair that beat the within edge to clip high of off.

Hoey took a leaf out of the Afghan spinners, various his tempo and largely bowling stump-to-stump. Even so, Hashmatullah Shahidi dragged a half-tracker straight to Moondra at deep sq., whereas impatience bought the higher of Darwish Rasooli, as he swiped throughout the road to toe finish one to midwicket to depart Afghanistan 154 for six.

That wasn’t the one mind fade of the innings. Omarzai tried a lofted hit, solely to be caught at cowl to depart Eire dreaming of an unlikely heist. Then Rashid stood tall, enjoying a sedate however assured innings, resisting the urge to hit out till Afghanistan had been inside 15 runs of victory. Then he introduced the goal into single-figures along with his wristy whip; he fittingly hit the profitable runs – a brace off Harry Tector within the forty fifth – to spark huge celebrations.

Ahmadzai performed no small half, dealing with 26 balls for his 4 not out, as Afghanistan secured entry right into a fourth straight World Cup.

Source link