A match that swung wildly from one side to the other eventually ended with Afghanistan clinching a thriller to seal their spot in the 2027 ODI World Cup in Southern Africa, courtesy of their global superstar, Rashid Khan.

At 176 for 7, Ireland were more than in with a sniff of defending 206. But Rashid held firm, making 37 of the most valuable runs to help his team cross the line. Rashid’s batting efforts topped up a typically aggressive spell of legspin that fetched him 3 for 44 earlier in the afternoon, a spell that turned the tables on Ireland along with mystery spinner AM 1ghazanfar.

Trailing 1-0 down in the five-match series, Ireland put up a spirited defence. From 97 for 2, Gavin Hoey bowled a terrific spell of legspin himself. He lulled batters with flight, troubled them with dip and sharp turn and suddenly found himself in with a chance of delivering a knockout blow.

His 4 for 34 through the middle overs – including the prized scalp of opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 71 – cracked the game open. At the other end, he was well complemented by seamer Mark Adair, who continued to reap minute deviations off the deck all through the evening. But in having to go all out, Ireland eventually ran out of steam once Hoey bowled out by the 33rd over.

That Ireland made a fist of this was down to a record ninth wicket stand between Jai Moondra and Hoey. The pair added 76 for the ninth wicket after Ireland were in tatters at 128 for 8, all at sea against the turning ball in conditions that were far from treacherous. Hoey top scored with 36, while Moondra made 31 enterprising runs in just his second ODI innings. He was easily the more adventurous of the two during their partnership, showing excellent game awareness and footwork to counter the Afghan spin threat.

Having walloped a full toss first up, Moondra hit four more boundaries in his knock, before nicking behind to Gurbaz to give comeback man Yamin Ahmadzai – playing his first ODI since 2022 – his second wicket. The innings ended in the 47th over when Hoey was bowled attempting a big hit down the ground off Azmatullah Omarzai. By then, Rashid and Ghazanfar, who ripped through the top order to pick up the wickets of Lorcan Tucker, Curtis Campher and Ben Calitz, had combined figures of 6 for 73.

Gurbaz took the attack to the fast bowlers in the chase, feasting on anything pitched up. He was particularly aggressive against Moondra, the left-arm seamer, who didn’t quite manage to extract the same movement as Adair in conditions tailor-made for the quicks in Belfast.

Gurbaz waltzed to his eighth ODI fifty with a heave over deep midwicket, but then had to buckle down in the face of some quick wickets. Sediqullah Atal dragged a flighted delivery from Hoey to long-on for 27, and Rahmat Shah, the captain, was bowled by a superb nip backer from Adair that beat the inside edge to clip top of off.

Hoey took a leaf out of the Afghan spinners, varying his pace and largely bowling stump-to-stump. Even so, Hashmatullah Shahidi dragged a half-tracker straight to Moondra at deep square, while impatience got the better of Darwish Rasooli, as he swiped across the line to toe end one to midwicket to leave Afghanistan 154 for 6.

That wasn’t the only brain fade of the innings. Omarzai attempted a lofted hit, only to be caught at cover to leave Ireland dreaming of an unlikely heist. Then Rashid stood tall, playing a sedate but confident innings, resisting the urge to hit out until Afghanistan were within 15 runs of victory. Then he brought the target into single-figures with his wristy whip; he fittingly hit the winning runs – a brace off Harry Tector in the 45th – to spark massive celebrations.

Ahmadzai played no small part, facing 26 balls for his 4 not out, as Afghanistan secured entry into a fourth straight World Cup.

Scores:
Afghanistan 207 for 7 in 44.5 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 71, Rashid Khan 37*;  Gavin Hoey 4-34) beat Ireland 206 in 46.3 overs (Gavin Hoey 36; AM Ghazanfar 3-29, Rashid Khan 3-44) by three wickets

[Cricinfo]