Ireland vs Afghanistan 1st ODI: Preview, likely XIs, predictions

Two ODIs. That is all Afghanistan have before the World Cup warm-up matches. They will play Ireland – with whom they had drawn an ODI series in Dehradun 2-2 earlier this year – at Belfast on May 19 and 21. With May 23 being the last date for announcing the final World Cup squads, Afghanistan are bound to take these matches seriously.

Afghanistan have been reinforced by Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, all of whom were busy with IPL duties during their Scotland tour. Despite their unavailability, they did not have to stretch to win the only decided ODI on that tour.

Ireland, on the other hand, lost all three matches (to Bangladesh and West Indies) in the recently concluded Tri-Series they hosted. They had some impressive individual performances, especially from their batsmen, but their new-ball bowlers failed to take advantage of the usually favourable conditions at Malahide.

Head to head

The teams are evenly matched, with 12 wins each. Even on Irish soil the head-to-head count reads 4-4. However, Afghanistan had won the last series on Irish soil, in 2018, 2-1. Rashid (8/96) and Nabi (6/106) had shared 14 wickets between them.

Key players

Paul Stirling (Ireland): Stirling found form towards the end of the Tri-Series with scores of 77 and 130. With William Porterfield opting to bat at four, Stirling now has to adapt to a dual role – of the senior opener, playing mentor to young James McCollum, as well as a demolisher.

Rashid Khan (Afghanistan): Rashid was in tremendous form towards the end of the IPL, where he finished as one of the most economic bowlers.

Likely XIs

Ireland: Paul Stirling, James McCollum, Andy Balbirnie, William Porterfield (c), Kevin O’Brien, Mark Adair, Gary Wilson, George Dockrell, Barry McCarthy, Boyd Rankin, Josh Little.

Afghanistan: Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Gulbadin Naib (c), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan.

Prediction

Afghanistan to win.