Rahmanullah Gurbaz led the team to victory against Ireland by scoring 71 runs off 77 balls.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz led the team to victory against Ireland by scoring 71 runs off 77 balls.

Afghanistan Take Unassailable Grip on Five-Match Series with Nervy Chase at Stormont

Afghanistan continued their dominant run on Irish soil, edging past a spirited Ireland side by three wickets in the third ODI at the Civil Service Cricket Club, Stormont, Belfast, to move into a commanding 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Chasing a modest but tricky target of 207, Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s fighting 71 off 77 balls formed the backbone of the Afghan run chase, though the visitors were made to work far harder than the scoreboard suggests before finally getting over the line with seven wickets down and 31 balls to spare.

It was a contest that swung on the discipline of Ireland’s seam attack, with debutant-quality performances from Gavin Hoey turning what should have been a comfortable chase into a genuine arm-wrestle. In the end, however, Afghanistan’s depth in batting, anchored by Rashid Khan’s unbeaten 37, proved enough to see them home and hand Ireland their second successive defeat of the series.

Match Snapshot

• Venue: Civil Service Cricket Club, Stormont, Belfast
• Series: Afghanistan tour of Ireland, 2026 — 3rd ODI of 5
• Result: Afghanistan won by 3 wickets (31 balls remaining)
• Series Standing: Afghanistan lead 2-0
• Ireland: 206 all out in 46.3 overs
• Afghanistan: 207/7 in 44.5 overs
• Top Performer: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (71 off 77 balls)

Ireland Innings

Afghanistan Innings

With the first match of the series washed out without a ball being bowled and Afghanistan having already claimed the second fixture comfortably, this result puts them firmly in control of the series with two matches left to play, both scheduled to be held in Belfast. For Ireland, the defeat continues a frustrating run of results against a full-strength Afghan side that has repeatedly found a way to grind out results even on days when their batting has not fired collectively.

Gurbaz’s Anchor Role Sets Up the Chase

Chasing 207 for victory, Afghanistan‘s approach was built around Rahmanullah Gurbaz once again playing the role of both aggressor and anchor at the top of the order. The wicketkeeper-batter, who has been in prolific form throughout this Irish tour, combined controlled strokeplay with calculated aggression to compile 71 off 77 deliveries, an innings that included two boundaries and five maximums, translating to a strike rate of 92.21.

Gurbaz’s dismissal, caught by Mark Adair off the bowling of Gavin Hoey, arrived at a crucial juncture and triggered a mini-collapse that Ireland’s bowlers very nearly capitalised on fully. Before his departure, though, Gurbaz had already done the hard work of blunting the new-ball threat and ensuring Afghanistan were well-placed in the chase, allowing those who followed to play with a measure of freedom that the situation did not always justify.

His opening partner, Ibrahim Zadran, was unable to replicate the fluent form that had brought him 84 in the previous match of the series. Zadran managed just 12 off 23 balls before he was caught behind by Andrew Balbirnie off Byron McDonough, ending a stay at the crease that never quite got going. It was a rare failure for the young opener, who has been one of the standout performers of the tour, and it meant the platform Afghanistan needed had to be rebuilt through the middle order rather than extended by the top order.

Middle-Order Wobble Opens the Door for Ireland

What followed was a passage of play that will give Ireland’s bowling unit plenty of encouragement heading into the remainder of the series. Sediqullah Atal looked promising during his innings of 27 off 25 balls, striking five boundaries at a healthy strike rate in excess of 108, before he too fell to the impressive Gavin Hoey, caught by Mark Adair. That wicket began a sequence in which Ireland’s attack, led superbly by Hoey, took control of the contest.

Captain Rahmat Shah made only 4 off 8 deliveries before being bowled by Mark Adair, a crucial early breakthrough that put real pressure on Afghanistan’s middle order. Hashmatullah Shahidi then added 22 off 24 balls, striking at nearly 92, but he became Hoey’s third victim of the innings when he was caught by Jai Moondra. Moments later, Darwish Abdul Rasooli’s brisk 13 off 14 balls also ended in identical fashion — caught off Hoey, this time by Curtis Campher — as the Irish seamer wrapped up figures of four wickets to leave Afghanistan wobbling in the chase.

At that stage, with regular wickets tumbling and the required rate creeping upward, Ireland would have sensed a genuine opportunity to level the series with a rare win over a full-strength Afghanistan side. Azmatullah Omarzai chipped in with 13 off 29 balls before he was caught by Harry Tector off Mark Adair, Afghanistan’s sixth wicket to fall and a moment that briefly threatened to turn the match decisively in Ireland’s favour.

Rashid Khan Steadies the Ship

With the chase hanging in the balance, it was Rashid Khan who once again demonstrated why he remains one of the most valuable all-round assets in world cricket. Coming in with the required rate ticking up and wickets falling around him, Rashid combined calm assessment with calculated hitting to compile an unbeaten 37 off 43 balls, striking four boundaries along the way at a strike rate of 86.05.

Rashid found an able partner in Yamin Ahmadzai, who played the role of the steady foil to perfection, grinding out an unbeaten 4 off 26 balls. It was far from eye-catching batting, but in the context of the match it was exactly what Afghanistan needed — a partnership built on patience and the willingness to rotate strike and see off the threat posed by Ireland’s bowlers, rather than looking to force the issue and risk further clatter of wickets.

Together, Rashid and Ahmadzai guided Afghanistan home without further alarm, ensuring the required runs were chased down with 7 wickets in hand and 31 balls unused, a far more comfortable margin at the finish than the tense middle overs had suggested was likely. Afghanistan’s total of 207 runs was compiled with 4 extras, all in the form of wides.

Gavin Hoey’s Career-Best Effort in a Losing Cause

While the result did not go Ireland’s way, the performance of Gavin Hoey with the ball deserves special mention. His spell accounted for four of Afghanistan’s top and middle-order batters — Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Hashmatullah Shahidi, and Darwish Abdul Rasooli — a haul that on another day, with a touch more support at the death, could well have set up a memorable Irish victory. It was Hoey’s ability to extract movement and generate consistent pressure through the middle overs that kept Ireland in the contest for as long as they were, and his display will offer Irish selectors plenty of encouragement as they look ahead to the remainder of the series.

Mark Adair also enjoyed a productive outing with the ball, accounting for both Rahmat Shah and Azmatullah Omarzai, while also holding onto a sharp catch to dismiss Gurbaz off Hoey’s bowling — a reminder of his continued value as an all-format performer for Ireland. Byron McDonough claimed the important wicket of Ibrahim Zadran, breaking the opening stand and giving Ireland the early inroad they were looking for.

A Below-Par Total That Still Nearly Proved Enough

Ireland’s total of 206 all out in 46.3 overs will not go down as one of their more commanding batting displays of the summer, and there will be an acknowledgement within the camp that a total in excess of 230-240 might have been enough to force a different result altogether, given how competitive the chase eventually became. Nevertheless, the fact that Afghanistan needed all their experience and composure to get over the line, losing seven wickets in the process, will offer genuine encouragement to Paul Stirling’s side as they regroup for the remainder of the series.

The pattern of the match — Ireland restricting a strong batting line-up to a below-par target, only for their own batting unit to fall short of a genuinely competitive score — has been a recurring theme in this series so far, and it is one that Ireland’s team management will be keen to address before the fourth ODI. With bowling depth clearly in good shape, question marks remain over whether Ireland’s batting order can consistently produce the substantial totals needed to trouble a well-rounded Afghan side.

Series Context and What Lies Ahead

This result means Afghanistan move to a 2-0 lead in the five-match series, with the opening fixture having been abandoned due to rain without a ball bowled. Afghanistan’s victory in the second ODI, built around a composed knock from Ibrahim Zadran and a sensational bowling display from Rashid Khan, had already put them firmly in control, and this third victory, though considerably harder-earned, effectively secures the series with two matches still to play.

For Rahmat Shah’s Afghanistan side, the result continues an excellent run on this tour and further strengthens their case as they look to accumulate valuable points and build momentum ahead of major ICC events. Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s consistency at the top of the order, allied to the control shown by Rashid Khan across both bat and ball, has been central to their success, while the emergence of contributors through the middle order gives the side genuine depth heading into the business end of the series.

Ireland, meanwhile, will regroup knowing they pushed a strong Afghan side extremely close and will take considerable heart from Gavin Hoey’s outstanding bowling performance. With the series already appearing to slip away, the remaining two fixtures — both to be played at Stormont in Belfast — represent an opportunity for Ireland to salvage pride and register a morale-boosting win, while Afghanistan will look to complete what would be a thoroughly deserved series victory.

Fans can expect the fourth ODI to carry significant context, with Ireland needing a big performance from their batting unit in particular if they are to turn around the tide of a series that has, so far, been shaped almost entirely by moments of Afghan composure under pressure — and Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s fighting 71 in Belfast was very much the latest example of that trend.