AFG vs IRE, 2021: 3rd ODI – A big total without a fifty, Stirling’s record ton, Rashid @ 1000 runs and more stats

Afghanistan completed a whitewash over the Ireland team winning all three matches of the series part of the CWC Super League. Afghanistan started pretty aggressively smashing 18 runs in the very first over of the game. They moved to 32 in only 2.1 overs before collapsing to 66/4 by 12th over. Despite no player scoring a fifty, Afghanistan finished strongly on 266/9 as Rashid Khan scored a quick 40-ball 48. Paul Stirling was the face of Ireland chase who smashed 15 fours including six maximums during his 118 off 119. The Irish team eventually got bowled out for 230 as Rashid bagged a 4-wicket haul.

Here are all the statistical highlights from Afghanistan’s ODI series victory against Ireland:

A big total without a fifty:

266/9 – Afghanistan’s total of 266/9 is now the highest in ODI cricket without an individual fifty. This is also the highest for Afghanistan surpassing 228/10 which they made against UAE in 2014.

A record knock by Stirling:

12 – Number of centuries by Paul Stirling in ODI cricket; the most by any player for Ireland surpassing William Porterfield’s 11 tons. Stirling’s 12 hundreds in International cricket are also the most by any player for Ireland.

58 – Paul Stirling got to his fifty when Ireland’s total score was only 58. Only four times a player reached his individual fifty at a team total lower than 58. Sanath Jayasuriya (vs Pakistan, 1996) tops the list as he got to his fifty with a six when Sri Lanka moved to 56/0 from just 4.1 overs.

Yet another ton in vain for Stirling:

3 – Stirling has three centuries in ODI cricket this year; all of them at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately, all three tons ended up on the losing side only. Stirling is now the 2nd player after Brendan Taylor (3 at Harare Sports Club) to score as many as three ODI tons at a venue in defeats. Stirling’s three hundreds are also the joint-most ODI tons in defeats by any player in a calendar year.

6 – As many as six of Paul Stirling’s 12 hundreds in the ODI format resulted in defeats; the joint 3rd most by any player in this format. Sachin Tendulkar and Chris Gayle lead the list with 14 and 11 hundreds respectively while Marcus Trescothick, Aaron Finch and Rohit Sharma also had six tons apiece as openers in ODI defeats.

Rashid Khan @ 1000 runs:

22y 128d – Rashid Khan, at the age of 22 years and 128 days, is the 4th youngest player to achieve the double of 1000+ runs and 100+ wickets in ODI cricket. Only Abdul Razzaq (20y 333d), Shahid Afridi (21y 330d) and Irfan Pathan (22y 37d) were younger than Rashid at the time of completion of their double.

74 – Matches Rashid Khan needed to complete the all-round double of 1000+ runs and 100+ wickets in ODI cricket. Rashid is now the 3rd fastest to this double among Asian players behind Abdul Razzaq (69 matches) and Irfan Pathan (72 matches),

970 – Balls Rashid Khan needed to complete 1000 runs in the ODI format; the fewest to this milestone for any of the 12 Afghanistan players with 1000+ ODI runs. Mohammad Nabi was the previous quickest as he needed 1068 balls for the milestone.