These two teams have been playing each other far too often that the players have probably made friends among themselves. They recently took part in a long tour of India where they played ODIs, T20s and also a single Test. Afghanistan won the test against Ireland, won the T20 series 3-0 while the ODI series was a little tougher contest, tied 2-2 at Dehradun.
3 months later, they play each other again in a series of 2 ODIs, this time in Ireland, as the away team gets vital practice ahead of the all-important 2019 ICC World Cup. Both ODIs are being played at Belfast within the space of 3 days and you can keep reading for our PlayerzPot (Sign-up with code “READ1234”) fantasy preview of the IRE vs AFG 1st ODI here…
Match info
- Tournament: Afghanistan tour of Ireland 2019.
- Date: 19th May 2019, 3:15pm IST
- Venue: Civil Service Cricket Club, Belfast
- Capacity: 6,000+
- Series status: 1st ODI of the 2-match series.
Form (recent first)
- IRE: L, L, L, L, W
- AFG: W, W, L, W, L
ALSO SEE: List of top fantasy cricket websites in India
Stats
- Ireland have won only 1 of their last 5 ODIs at this ground.
- Afghanistan have won 4 of their 7 ODIs at this ground.
- 77, 130 – Paul Stirling’s last 2 ODI scores (vs WI, BAN).
- 153 runs and 15 wickets – Rashid Khan’s record here in 7 matches.
- 75, 54, 82*, 67, 22 – Asghar Afghan’s last 5 ODI scores.
Ireland
The biggest positive for Ireland is the return to form of captain William Porterfield. He had 10 international innings with a highest score of just 21 before he dropped himself down the order, broke the jinx and scored 94 vs Bangladesh a few days ago. To support him with the bat, pick Paul Stirling who is probably the most experienced player in the team with respect to playing in different conditions across the world.
Stirling is also handy with the ball and he makes a good choice to be your vice-captain for this game. Andy Balbirnie is also in the form of his lifetime with 3 centuries in his last 10 professional innings, so pick two from these three. Joshua Little is the only dropout from the Ireland squad of 14 and the pacer option I would suggest for your PlayerzPot (Sign-up with code “READ1234”) fantasy team is Tim Murtagh who is a regular wicket-taker.
Afghanistan
The big Afghani stars Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi are the two first-choice players while selecting fantasy teams but with their heavy workload in the recent IPL 2019, there’s a chance they could be rested. If they play, Nabi is my fantasy team captain or else I’ll be selecting Gulbadin Naib, the new Afghan captain. He picked 3/72 in the last ODI vs Scotland and is a big hitter of the ball too.
With the bat, another person in the form of his life is Asghar Afghan, who had 4 consecutive ODI fifties and missed out on the chance of a record in the recent rain-curtailed game against Scotland. It would be a crime not to have him in your team, while Rahmat Shah is also a good batting option, fresh off a century against Scotland. He is arguably the best Afghanistan batsman too.
IRE vs AFG Betting
Ireland vs Afghanistan 1st ODI
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— Read Scoops (@ReadScoops) May 19, 2019
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