5th ODI: Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie star in Ireland’s series-levelling win
William Porterfield-led Ireland beat Afghanistan by five wickets in the fifth ODI to level the five-match series 2-2. @Twitter/ICC[/caption] Andrew Balbirnie and Paul Stirling starred with the bat as Ireland beat Afghanistan by five wickets to win the fifth and final ODI of the series and drew the series 2-2 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Dehradun on Sunday. Chasing 217 runs to win, Ireland enjoyed a solid start as Stirling and skipper William Porterfield put up a 57-run stand for the opening wicket before Zahir Khan dismissed the latter. (AFG vs IRE, 5th ODI: SCORECARD) Balbirnie then joined Stirling in the middle as the two added 81 runs together in 17.4 overs. The partnership was broken when Rashid Khan got Stirling out LBW. The right-hander scored 70 off 88 balls, hitting 7 fours and 2 sixes. While Afghanistan managed to scalp one more Ireland wicket quickly as Simi Singh got out off Zahir’s bowling, Kevin O’Brien and Balbirnie took Ireland across the finish line, with five wickets in hand and 16 balls to spare. Earlier, the experienced duo of Asghar Afghan and Mohammad Nabi rescued Afghanistan yet again as the side recovered from 50/4 to score 216/6. (ALSO READ: 5th ODI: Ireland opt to bowl; Afghanistan bring back Mohammad Shahzad) After skipper William Porterfield won the toss and elected to bowl, George Dockrell, Tim Murtagh and Andy McBrine helped Ireland scalp four quick wickets. Afghanistan's decision to bring back Mohammad Shahzad did not really yield much dividends as the veteran could only score six runs and was dismissed in the first over. Javed Ahmadi and Rahmat Shah scored 24 and 17 runs respectively. Samiullah Shinwari did not trouble the scorers as he was out for a duck. Afghan and Nabi put up a 76-run stand to steady the Afghanistan innings. While Nabi perished in the 36th over and Najibullah Zadran got out soon after, Rashid Khan, who scored unbeaten 35 off 28 balls, joined hands with the Afghanistan skipper as the two pushed their side past 200 before Afghan left the field retired hurt in the final over of the Afghanistan innings. Brief scores: Ireland 219/5 (Paul Stirling 70, Andrew Balbirnie 68; Zahir Khan 2/55) beat Afghanistan 216/6 (Asghar Afghan 82 retired hurt, Mohammad Nabi 40; George Dockrell 2/46) by 5 wickets