IRE vs AFG 2026, IRE vs AFG 3rd ODI Match Preview

With the top-eight ODI sides, as of September 2026, directly qualifying for the 2027 World Cup, Afghanistan, after convincingly beating Ireland in the second ODI, find themselves only one win away from the big tournament.

Afghanistan nearly had the perfect game in Bready on Friday. While Ibrahim Zadran scored a composed 84 at the top, Hasmatullah Shahidi, batting at No. 7 for the first time in his career, smashed 36* off 21 balls as finisher. With the ball, Mohammed Saleem rushed the Ireland batters with pace and zip, though he was Afghanistan’s most expensive bowler on the day.

As for Ireland, who now find themselves 0-1 down in the five-match series, twice let slip advantageous positions. First, they conceded 95 runs in the last 11 overs with the ball. Then, in the chase, the game was in the balance when Ireland needed 156 runs to win from 137 balls with seven wickets remaining, but they lost 7 for 63 to fall short by 92 runs.

But among their positives were newcomer Cade Carmichael’s knock of 62, which kept them in the hunt, and debutant Ben Calitz’s brief blitz of 27 from 15 balls from No. 7.

With the first ODI of the series abandoned, Ireland were forced to enter the World Cup qualifier. Now, after losing the second, they will hope to beat Afghanistan for the first time in eight attempts since May 2019 and also keep alive their hopes of winning their first ODI series against them since December 2017.

Form guide

Ireland: LLWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Afghanistan: WLLLW

In the spotlight: Jai Moondra and Rahmat Shah

After a dream entry into international cricket during the T20Is against India, Jai Moondra was taken down by the Afghanistan batters on ODI debut. His first spell read 5-0-48-1 as Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sediqullah Atal attacked him liberally. Moondra eventually finished with 9-0-78-1, and in the third ODI, will look to put that expensive start behind him.

In the second ODI, Rahmat Shah took his time to settle, only to fall for 30. But, leading Afghanistan for the first time in any format, he started his captaincy stint with a win as the move of sending Shahidi lower down worked, and all five of his bowlers delivered. Rahmat will face tougher tests in the future, but a positive start as captain will help boost his confidence in the lead-up to the World Cup.

Team news

Ireland might not press the panic button just yet despite their fast-bowling debutants Moondra and Byron McDonough going for runs, and their middle order collapsing in the second ODI. They might still go unchanged on Monday.

Ireland: 1 Paul Stirling (capt), 2 Andy Balbirnie, 3 Cade Carmichael, 4 Harry Tector, 5 Curtis Campher, 6 Lorcan Tucker (wk), 7 Ben Calitz, 8 Mark Adair, 9 Gavin Hoey, 10 Jai Moondra, 11 Byron McDonough

After bowling four overs, Azmatullah Omarzai walked off with an injury to his left little finger in the field. But he returned to bowl in the middle overs, and looked comfortable. Hence, Afghanistan could stick with the winning combination.

Afghanistan: 1 Ibrahim Zadran, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Sediqullah Atal, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi, 5 Rahmat Shah (capt), 6 Darwish Rasooli, 7 Azmatullah Omarzai, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 AM Ghazanfar, 10 Mohammad Saleem, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi

Pitch and conditions

A wet outfield delayed the toss in the second ODI by one-and-a-half hours, and reduced the game to 47 overs. It is expected to be cloudy in Bready on Monday, with little chance of rain in the morning and afternoon. While the uneven dimensions of the ground make it challenging for the batters, runs came at a quick pace on Friday, in what was just the first completed ODI at the ground since 2019.