Ireland vs Afghanistan – 2nd One-Day International Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is Ireland vs Afghanistan taking place? Tuesday 21st May, 10:45
Where is Ireland vs Afghanistan taking place? Belfast
What is the expected weather for Ireland vs Afghanistan? Temperatures will range between 13-14c with cloud cover above but there is little chance of rain
What channel is Ireland vs Afghanistan on? This match will not be televised live in the UK
Where can I stream Ireland vs Afghanistan? The will be streamed live on Cricket Ireland’s YouTube channel
Where can I get tickets for Ireland vs Afghanistan? https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/cricket-ireland-tickets/artist/40832
LAST MEETING
Ireland beat Afghanistan by 72 runs
THE TEAM NEWS
IRELAND
Captain: William Porterfield
- Ireland will be extremely pleased with their efforts after they produced a solid bowling performance to defeat Afghanistan by 72 runs in the 1st ODI and will now look to seal the series with a second win in succession here.
- Knocks of 71 and 53 for Paul Stirling and William Porterfield helped Ireland to 210 before a strong start which reduced the Afghans to 22/3 set the tone for the rest of the innings with the Irish bowling them out for 138.
- Mark Adair was the pick of the bowlers in just his fifth ODI appearance for Ireland as he took eye-catching figures of 4-19 and he will look to build on that effort as he tries to cement his place in the side.
AFGHANISTAN
Captain: Gulbadin Naib
- Afghanistan’s Word Cup preparations suffered a setback as they failed to beat Ireland and will need a big improvement after they were outplayed with both bat and ball in the first of the two-match series.
- Dawlat Zadran and Aftab Alam bowled well and took six wickets between them but were offered little support whilst none of the Afghanistan batsmen were able to post a score of 30 runs or more which is where the real problems came for the Afghans.
- Afghanistan are expected to make a couple of changes with Najibullah Zadran a prime candidate to come into the side to stiffen up the middle-order whilst Noor Ali Zadran will also be pushing for a spot.
THE PREDICTION
Ireland put in a solid all-round performance to defeat Afghanistan in the 1st ODI match and will look to claim a series win with another victory here. The Afghans were poor in the first game and will need to improve with both bat and ball if they are to get anything from this match. Ireland’s batsmen proved too good and will look to build on that performance whilst their bowling unit put in one of their best performances of recent times to seal the win and they can back that up to seal the series here.
