Afghanistan vs Ireland 2019, 4th ODI: Match details & Key players

Asghar Afghan has led his side tremendously well against a strong Irish team

Afghanistan and Ireland are set to lock horns in the fourth ODI at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on Friday. After a string of defeats, Ireland bounced back in the third ODI to register their first victory of this tour.

Afghanistan has to find a way now to win this ODI series with two more games remaining. Both the teams will battle it out once again at the same venue to take the lead in this wonderfully poised ODI series.

Afghanistan faced a setback in their previous game against Ireland. Having won the toss, the Afghans opted to bat first and managed to post a competitive score on the board. Najibullah Zadran (104*) and Asghar Afghan (75) contributed with the bat and took their team to a challenging total of 256-8.

With the ICC World Cup in sight, Afghanistan would be eyeing to win the remaining game to seal this ODI series. Their batting strength has been quite impressive in this tour while the bowling department has stepped up at the right time.

After beating Afghanistan in the second ODI Ireland scripted a famous comeback in this series. The visitors must be delighted with their first victory of this Indian tour. Andrew Balbirnie was declared the Man of the Match for his unbeaten knock of 145 runs.

George Dockrell (54) also played his part and stitched a match-winning partnership along with Balbirnie to take their side over the line with six balls to spare. Ireland would be hoping to keep this winning momentum in the remaining two games. Having lost the T20I series, the Irish will be desperate to perform well in the ODI series.

Match Details

Date: Friday, March 8, 2019

Time: 01:00 PM IST

Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun

Series: Afghanistan vs Ireland in India

Live Telecast: DSPORT

Online Streaming: Rabbitholebd Sports - YouTube Channel

Head-to-head (last five ODIs)

Afghanistan – 3

Ireland – 2

Recent Form

Afghanistan - L, NR, W, T, L

Ireland - W, NR, L, L, W

Squads

Ireland

William Porterfield (c), Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, James Cameron-Dow, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Tim Murtagh, James McCollum, Kevin O Brien, Stuart Poynter, Boyd Rankin, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling and Lorcan Tucker

Afghanistan

Asghar Afghan (c), Mohammad Shahzad, Noor Ali Zadran, Javed Ahmadi, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Samiullah Shenwari, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Ikram Ali Khil, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Aftab Alam, Dawlat Zadran, Zahir Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Shapoor Zadran, Sayed Shirzad and Fareed Malik

Probable Playing XI

Ireland: William Porterfield (c), Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie, Simi Singh, Kevin O Brien, Stuart Poynter (wk), George Dockrell, Andy McBrine, Tim Murtagh, James Cameron-Dow and Boyd Rankin

Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan (c), Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ikram Ali Khil (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Sayed Shirzad and Mujeeb Ur Rahman