Ireland edge past Afghanistan in third and final T20I

Ireland managed to outclass Afghanistan in a super over in the third and final T20I of the three-match series here at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground on Tuesday.

With this win, Ireland gained a consolidation win, but the series went on Afghanistan as they had won the opening two matches of the series.

In the super over, Afghanistan managed to score just eight runs. Ireland's Kevin O'Brien ensured that Ireland manages to go away with a victory.

Chasing 143, Afghanistan got off to a flier as openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Usman Ghani put on 51 runs in the first six overs of the innings. However, Ireland came back strongly in the match as the side dismissed Gurbaz (42) and Ghani (18) in quick succession, reducing Afghanistan to 60/2.

Karim Janat and Asghar Aghan then put on 32 runs for the third wicket, but Ireland once again came back into the match as Barry McCarthy dismissed Janat (17) in the 13th over, with Afghanistan still requiring 51 more runs for the win.

Afghanistan's innings derailed in the 15th over as Ireland got the wickets of Mohammad Nabi (4) and Najibullah Zadran (0). With 16 runs required in the final over, Rashid Khan managed to register boundaries off the final balls and this took the match to the super over.

Earlier, Naveen-ul-Haq's three-wicket haul helped Afghanistan restrict Ireland to just 142/8 in the allotted twenty overs.

Opting to bat first, Ireland lost its opening wicket in the first over of the innings as Paul Stirling (0) was sent back to the pavilion by Naveen-ul-Haq. Soon after, ul-Haq removed Andrew Balbirnie (0), reducing Ireland to 12/2.

Kevin O'Brien (26) and Gareth Delany (37) then retrieved the innings for the visitors as the duo put on 62 runs for the third wicket, however, their vigil to came to end and Ireland was reduced to 80/4 in the 11th over.

Ireland kept on losing wickets at regular intervals, and in the end, the side was restricted to a score under 150.

Brief Scores: Ireland 142/8 (Gareth Delany 37, Kevin O'Brien 26, Naveen-ul-Haq 3-21) and Afghanistan 142/7 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 42, Asghar Afghan 32, Simi Singh 2-37).

Super Over Score: Ireland 12/1 defeat Afghanistan 8/0.