# Afghan cricket team in Ireland in 2018

The Afghanistan cricket team toured Ireland in August 2018 to play three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) matches against the Ireland cricket team. Afghanistan won the T20I series 2–0, after the third match was abandoned due to overnight rain and a wet outfield. Afghanistan won the ODI series 2–1.
The second match of the ODI series was the 100th ODI to be played by Afghanistan. In the same match, Mohammad Nabi became the first cricketer for Afghanistan to play in 100 ODIs.

## Squads

| ODIs | ODIs | T20Is | T20Is |
| Ireland | Afghanistan | Ireland | Afghanistan |
| William Porterfield (c) Andrew Balbirnie Peter Chase David Delany George Dockrell Tyrone Kane Josh Little Andy McBrine Tim Murtagh Kevin O'Brien Niall O'Brien Boyd Rankin James Shannon Simi Singh Paul Stirling Gary Wilson | Asghar Afghan (c) Javed Ahmadi Aftab Alam Ihsanullah Rashid Khan Wafadar Momand Mohammad Nabi Gulbadin Naib Shafiqullah (wk) Rahmat Shah Hashmatullah Shahidi Mohammad Shahzad (wk) Sayed Shirzad Samiullah Shinwari Mujeeb Ur Rahman Dawlat Zadran Najibullah Zadran Hazratullah Zazai | Gary Wilson (c) Andrew Balbirnie Peter Chase David Delany George Dockrell Tyrone Kane Josh Little Andy McBrine Kevin O'Brien William Porterfield Boyd Rankin James Shannon Simi Singh Paul Stirling Stuart Thompson | Asghar Afghan (c) Fareed Ahmad Aftab Alam Mirwais Ashraf Usman Ghani Rashid Khan Mohammad Nabi Gulbadin Naib Shafiqullah Mohammad Shahzad (wk) Samiullah Shinwari Mujeeb Ur Rahman Najibullah Zadran Hazratullah Zazai |
After the initial players were selected, Tyrone Kane was added to Ireland's squads as bowling cover. Josh Little replaced David Delany in Ireland's squad for the third ODI.

## T20I Series
### 1st T20I

* 20 August 2018 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Afghanistan 160/7 (18 overs) | v | Ireland 144/9 (18 overs) |
| Hazratullah Zazai 74 (33) Josh Little 2/20 (4 overs) | | Gary Wilson 34 (23) Rashid Khan 3/35 (4 overs) |
* Afghanistan won by 16 runs Bready Cricket Club Ground, Magheramason Umpires: Roland Black (Ire) and Alan Neill (Ire)
* Ireland won the toss and elected to field.
* The match was reduced to 18 overs per side due to rain.
* Hazratullah Zazai scored the fastest fifty for Afghanistan in T20Is (22 balls).
* Mohammad Nabi (Afg) became the sixth player to score 1,000 runs and take 50 wickets in T20Is.

### 2nd T20I

* 22 August 2018 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Afghanistan 160/8 (20 overs) | v | Ireland 79 (15 overs) |
| Hazratullah Zazai 82 (54) Peter Chase 3/35 (4 overs) | | William Porterfield 33 (23) Rashid Khan 4/17 (3 overs) |
* Afghanistan won by 81 runs Bready Cricket Club Ground, Magheramason Umpires: Mark Hawthorne (Ire) and Paul Reynolds (Ire)
* Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat.
* Paul Reynolds (Ire) stood in his first T20I as an umpire.
* Asghar Afghan (Afg) scored his 1,000th run in T20Is.

### 3rd T20I

* 24 August 2018 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Ireland | v | Afghanistan |
* Match abandoned Bready Cricket Club Ground, Magheramason Umpires: Mark Hawthorne (Ire) and Alan Neill (Ire)
* No toss.
* No play was possible due to rain and a wet outfield.

## ODI Series
### 1st ODI

* 27 August 2018 10:45 Scorecard
| Afghanistan 227/9 (50 overs) | v | Ireland 198 (48.3 overs) |
| Gulbadin Naib 64 (98) Tim Murtagh 4/31 (10 overs) | | Andrew Balbirnie 55 (82) Aftab Alam 2/34 (9 overs) |
* Afghanistan won by 29 runs Stormont, Belfast Umpires: Ian Gould (Eng) and Mark Hawthorne (Ire)
* Ireland won the toss and elected to field.
* Hazratullah Zazai (Afg) made his ODI debut.

### 2nd ODI

* 29 August 2018 10:45 Scorecard
| Afghanistan 182/9 (50 overs) | v | Ireland 183/7 (43.5 overs) |
| Najibullah Zadran 42 (52) Tim Murtagh 4/30 (10 overs) | | Andrew Balbirnie 60 (92) Rashid Khan 3/37 (10 overs) |
* Ireland won by 3 wickets Stormont, Belfast Umpires: Ian Gould (Eng) and Paul Reynolds (Ire)
* Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat.
* This was Afghanistan's 100th ODI.
* Mohammad Nabi became the first cricketer for Afghanistan to play in 100 ODIs.
* Najibullah Zadran (Afg) scored his 1,000th run in ODIs.

### 3rd ODI

* 31 August 2018 10:45 Scorecard
| Ireland 124 (36.1 overs) | v | Afghanistan 127/2 (23.5 overs) |
| Gary Wilson 23 (36) Rashid Khan 3/18 (8 overs) | | Ihsanullah 57* (62) Boyd Rankin 1/30 (7 overs) |
* Afghanistan won by 8 wickets Stormont, Belfast Umpires: Ian Gould (Eng) and Alan Neill (Ire)
* Ireland won the toss and elected to bat.