Ireland vs Afghanistan, 2nd ODI at Abu Dhabi, AFG v IRE, Jan 24 2021 - Match Result

That's that from us at the Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi for today. We will catch you again in a couple of days' time. It's goodbye from Ranjith, Binoy and myself.

Asghar Afghan: "[On having wanted to bowl] It was important to win this second game. We know this wicket. Honestly, if I had won the toss, I would have chased. We have to get some practice in chasing. Nabi bowled brilliantly, and Rashid, Mujeeb and Naveen bowled really well in the end. That was the main point for us. [On the Rahmat-Hashmat partnership] Today they played really brilliantly. It's important for senior players to play well in a chase. The two of them took the responsibility, and that's great for upcoming matches as well. Every game is important now with the ODI League. All points are important. Today is gone, and we have to think about Tuesday, which is a new day. I took the attack on because Net Run Rate is important as well."

Andy Balbirnie: "We probably would have liked a few more. Paul batted beautifully to set us up. 260 was probably not enough on a wicket that went a bit more dead as it went on. We expected some more turn in the second innings, but I still think we can be a lot better with the bat. Barring Paul and Curtis for a bit, we weren't very good with the bat. We had set ourselves up for about 270, but we need more to challenge a team like Afghanistan. Paul has a fantastic tour when we go away. He was very close to the late Roy Torrens and Irish cricket has certainly lost a great man. Paul would love to have scored his hundred for him. [On 10 points at stake in the last match] It happened to us in Southampton, where we were beaten comprehensively and we came back to win the last one. 10 points is important in a competition like this. I think there are players in the wings ready to go. We picked the guys we thought could win us a game in the first two games. They are hard on themselves, but we are a squad. We have to rebound and be raring to go towards getting some points in the Super League."

Rahmat Shah is the player of the match for his unbeaten century: "The coach and captain gave me the plan, and to play my natural game. The wicket was really good for batting, even though it stopped a few times. Every team wants to qualify for the World Cup, and hopefully we have started well towards making it to the World Cup by winning more games."

5.12 pm Presentation in a short while from now

5.07 pm Rahmat Shah leads the way in a potentially tricky chase. When Afghanistan got off to a rapid start, Andy Balbirnie turned to seamers Barry McCarthy and Curtis Campher, and they responded by removing the two openers with some accurate bowling, and we felt we might be in for a contest at that stage. Rahmat was sublime, though, and importantly converted his start into a big one. Hashmatullah Shahidi, brought into the XI today at the expense of an allrounder, showed the value of having a left-hander in the middle order, with a controlled innings himself. Unfortunate himself to fall before pushing on for his first ODI hundred, but Asghar Afghan provided some good entertainment right at the end. The coaching staff of Lance Klusener and HD Ackerman sport wide grins as they welcome the two batsmen back into the dugout. It's been a professional couple of performances by Afghanistan. Ireland have fought gamely in both matches, but today their batting's overdependence on Paul Stirling stood exposed, one must confess.

Azweer: "Few weeks apart, Another very good hundred going down for Paul Stirling..!!"