Ireland 224 for 7 (Kevin O’Brien 72*, Wilson 41, Nabi 4-30) beat Afghanistan 220 (Shafiqullah 42, Zadran 41*, Nabi 41, K O’Brien 4-26, Mulder 3-57) by three wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Kevin O’Brien hit eight fours and two sixes in his 60-ball knock © Associated Press
Kevin O’Brien fought a hamstring injury to club an unbeaten 72 that helped Ireland chase down a 221-run target with three wickets in hand in the fourth ODI against Afghanistan.
Kevin O’Brien had limped off on 9, with Ireland having lost ground after a solid start. When he returned, they were reeling at 130 for 6 with Afghanistan ready to apply the choke through spin. But he responded with a half-century, built on brute force, to help Ireland draw level in the five-match series in Greater Noida.
The effort followed on from his four wickets, three of them in an opening burst that broke Afghanistan’s back after they won their fourth successive toss in the series. That they were lifted to 220 was down to handy contributions from Mohammad Nabi and the lower order.
Crippled by the injury, Kevin O’Brien struggled to run between the wickets, leaving him with the sole option of clearing the fence. He did that to great effect on a slow surface no less. He particularly favoured the leg-side boundary with his muscular slog sweeps.
Rashid Khan, Afghanistan’s best bowler of the series, bore the brunt of a few such hits in an 18-run over off the 35th to swing the momentum in Ireland’s favour. Rashid ended up suffering the worst of Kevin O’Brien’s onslaught, conceding 28 runs in the 17 balls he bowled to him.
With Gary Wilson buckling down at the other end, the duo ate into the target with a 66-run seventh-wicket stand that took Ireland to the brink. Wilson picked out deep midwicket off one that skidded on from Rashid with Ireland still 25 away. It could still have been Afghanistan’s game but for Usman Ghani letting one burst through his hands at short third man to reprieve Kevin O’Brien. Unsurprisingly, Afghanistan did not get lucky after that, and Kevin O’Brien sealed the game with successive fours off Dawlat.
Before the late charge, Nabi scythed through the middle order with four wickets. Paul Stirling closed the bat face early and tamely chipped a catch to mid-on off the leading edge to end a 48-run opening stand. Mohammad Shahzad’s lightning reflexes then had William Porterfield stumped after Nabi got one to turn outside off. Balbirnie lost his stumps to one that refused to sit up and McBrine played down the wrong line to one that straightened.
Akshay Gopalakrishnan is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo