Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Balbirnie the hero for Irish
A STUNNING knock of 145 not out from Andy Balbirnie – the thirdhighest ODI score by an Ireland player – helped the men in green secure a longawaited victory over Afghanistan in the third ODI at Dehradun. Balbirnie combined with George Dockrell for a 143-run partnership to take Ireland to their first victory of the series, after Afghanistan appeared to have taken firm control of the game, with the Irish 73/4 in their chase of 257. Balbirnie’s heroics followed on from an Afghan innings that saw Najibullah Zadran score his maiden international century, an excellent knock after Ireland had threatened to bowl Afghanistan out cheaply. After 19 overs, Afghanistan were reeling on 74/5 but they recovered in the shape of skipper Asghar Afghan and Najibullah, who put on 117 runs for the sixth wicket before Boyd Rankin had Asghar removed for 75. Having reached his fifty from 75 balls, left-hander Najibullah took just 22 more balls to reach three figures as he pounded five sixes and five fours in his 98-ball stay at the crease. Murtagh and Rankin picked up two wickets for the Irish, and Mcbrine impressed with his off-spin once more. He finished with 1/37 from his 10 overs here, having been tasked again with taking the new ball. Ireland’s top order struggles with the bat looked set to continue when Mujeeb had William Porterfield (3) dismissed cheaply with the new ball, while Dawlat Zadran picked up the wickets of Paul Stirling (20) and Simi Singh (1). With Kevin O’brien out for 21, an Irish win seemed improbable.