A return to form with the bat propelled Ireland to a long-awaited first win of the summer as captain Andrew Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker both notched half-centuries to see the home side to a seven-wicket win in Stormont.
It was a welcome return to form for the skipper after a series of lean scores against New Zealand and South Africa. He took the dominant role in an opening stand of 61 with Paul Stirling before the Northern Knights man holed out in the offside to Mohammed Nabi.
That brought Lorcan Tucker to the crease who played Afghanistan’s danger man Rashid Khan well, picking the right moment to sweep in particular as the visitors’ biggest bowling threat went wicketless.
Both Balbirnie and Tucker departed with the chase still in the balance, the former skying Mujeeb Ur Rahman to deep square, the latter picking out Khan at deep mid wicket off the bowling of Naveen-Ul-Haq.
With 33 needed off the final three and 23 off the last 12 deliveries, Ireland needed a decent effort from their middle order. With the benefits of wickets in hand after a much-improved power play, Harry Tector swatted Fazalhaq Farooqi over mid on to relieve the pressure before a cruel diving half-stop into the boundary from Ibrahim Zadran, the man whose cameo got Afghanistan into a good position with the bat, put Ireland into the ascendancy.
In the first innings, three wickets from Barry McCarthy plus a significant contribution from spinners George Dockrell (2-7) and Gareth Delany (1-27) helped to restrict Afghanistan, though Zadran’s late fireworks looked to have secured them an above par total.
