Afghanistan secure spot in 2027 ODI World Cup with win over Ireland

[p]Last week's opening game in the five-match contest was washed out, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/afghanistan/fPvTErSo/"]Afghanistan[/a] won Friday's second ODI in Bready by 92 runs.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ireland/GEmG3lXa/"]Ireland[/a] scored 206 in Monday's third match but three wickets apiece from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/khan-rashid/EZFlQ7ZK/"]Rashid Khan[/a] (3-44) and AM Ghazanfar (3-29) kept them in check after they were put in to bat.[/p][p]The home team were in deep trouble at 128-8 before Gavin Hoey (36) and Jai Moondra (31) put on 76 for the ninth wicket, but they were all out with 3.3 overs remaining.[/p][p]Afghanistan started their reply steadily and had reached 53 before opener [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zadran-ibrahim/zPbuFlpQ/"]Ibrahim Zadran[/a] fell for 12.[/p][embed guid="6262bcb8-9ca7-4250-acc7-28c61e4dc379" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8rLOPtdUGM" social-type="youtube" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/atal-sediqullah/C6lJSRYp/"]Sediqullah Atal[/a] (27) and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/shahidi-hashmatullah/bFNWoAFO/"]Hashmatullah Shahidi[/a] (22) chipped in with useful runs as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gurbaz-rahmanullah/l2Z9Bnfj/"]Rahmanullah[/a] led the way, smashing five sixes and two fours before he was caught by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/adair-mark/EywWtxOa/"]Mark Adair[/a] off Hoey.[/p][p]Ireland had a glimmer of hope when Adair removed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/omarzai-azmatullah/Y7mH662U/"]Azmatullah Omarzai[/a] to leave Afghanistan 176-7, but Rashid's 37 not out in an impressive all-round display helped the visitors home.[/p][p]Afghanistan's victory also secures their spot in the 2027 ODI World Cup in Southern Africa on account of their now unassailable world ranking (eighth), condemning the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/west-indies/jTD1lMfO/"]West Indies[/a] to next year's global Qualifier. [/p][p]The two sides meet again in Belfast on Wednesday.[/p][p]jw/ea[/p]