Afghanistan vs Ireland 2021, 3rd ODI: Match Preview And Prediction

On Tuesday (26th January), Afghanistan and Ireland will meet for the last game of the three-match ODI series at Sheikh Zayed Stadium (Abu Dhabi), which is also a part of the 2020–23 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League.

Afghanistan have already secured this ODI series as they are leading it by 2-0 with one to go. Afghanistan won the first game of this series by 16 runs and second match by 7 wickets.

Afghanistan vs Ireland 2021, 3rd ODI: Match Preview

Afghanistan

Afghanistan have already secured this ODI series by winning both the first two ODIs of this series. But the last ODI is similarly important for them as this ODI series is a part of the 2020–23 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League. So, Afghanistan will have to put their best performance again to clean sweep their opponents in this series.

Afghanistan players have performed really well as a team in this ODI series as they always returned strongly from the challenging situations. Even there were some moments where Ireland already started to dominate, but Afghans still managed to bring back their team into the game through the right decisions at the right time.

Young pacer Naveen-ul-Haq impressed in both the ODIs (3/68 & 4/42) while off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman also shined with the balls (2/40 & 3/46). Rashid Khan is also playing a crucial all-rounder role as he scored a very important fifty in the first ODI and took crucial wickets in both the ODIs.

While the opener and wicket-keeper batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored a brilliant century in the first ODI of this series, which was also his ODI debut, Rahmat Shah (103*) and Hashmatullah Shahidi’s (82) strong batting and partnership helped Afghanistan to chase down the 260 runs target very comfortably. As a team, they are becoming really stronger.

Full Squad

Asghar Afghan (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Rahmat Shah, Naveen ul haq, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (vc), Yamin Ahmadzai, Usman Ghani, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Javed Ahmadi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf.

Ireland

Though Ireland lost both the ODIs of this series and they have already lost this ODI series, the upcoming ODI is still important for them due to a part of the 2020–23 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League.

In both those ODIs, Ireland got the proper control but failed to maintain those in the crucial period, especially in the late moments in the innings. Also, the top-order batting failure is a crucial factor for them to lose this series. Except for the in-form Paul Stirling‘s century in the last game, there was nothing to say about their top-order batting as both the opener Kevin O’Brien and captain Andy Balbirnie failed to provide strong starts.

Curtis Campher has hugely impressed in this UAE tour with his crucial all-round performances. Wicket-keeper batsman Lorcan Tucker is also improving as a batsman. Simi Singh has also made some good impression in this UAE tour.

Full Squad

Andrew Balbirnie (C), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, James McCollum, Kevin O’Brien, Neil Rock, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young, Shane Getkate.

Afghanistan vs Ireland 2021, 3rd ODI: Match Prediction

Afghanistan are obviously favourite for the last game of this ODI series. However, Ireland always have a tendency to improve their game in the late period of a series, so they will try their best to end this away series with a victory.