Fifth one-day international, Stormont
Ireland 298-7 (50.0 overs): Campher 96 (84), Tector 53 (80); Azmatullah 3-74
Afghanistan 302-4 (48.5 overs): Rahmat 143* (133), Sediq 98 (112); McCarthy 3-47
Afghanistan won by six wickets and take five-game series 4-0
Afghanistan captain Rahmat Shah hit an unbeaten 143 at Stormont to help his side complete a 4-0 ODI series win over Ireland.
While the first of the five-match series was washed out, the visitors swept the remainder to cement their dominance over Ireland.
The visitors won by six wickets in this final match, surpassing their target of 299 with seven balls to spare after a slow start to their chase.
Rahmat, who hit 13 fours and two sixes, shared an Afghanistan record 201 for the third wicket with Sediq Atal, who made 98.
After winning the toss and opting to bowl, the visitors made an early breakthrough with Andrew Balbirnie gone for 13, before Ireland captain Paul Stirling fell for 20 after hitting four boundaries as Azmatullah Omarzai took the first two of his three wickets.
It was looking ominous for the hosts as AM Ghazanfar removed Cade Carmichael for 22 and Lorcan Tucker on seven, but Ireland would find a groove with the bat through Harry Tector and Curtis Campher.
Tector made 53 before being caught by Mohammad Saleem and Campher got into a flow with seven boundaries and four sixes, reaching 96 before being caught off the first ball of the final over.
In between, George Dockrell chipped in with 31 as Ireland posted 298-7.
The hosts put early pressure on Afghanistan as Liam McCarthy removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz (14) and Ibrahim Zadran for five as the visitors took just 30 off the 10-over powerplay, but Rahmat and Sediq would take over.
Their partnership laid a platform for Afghanistan but Sediq, two runs short of his century with seven fours and three sixes, was caught by Carmichael from McCarthy’s delivery with 76 required from 57 balls.
While Azmatullah chipped in with 24 before being removed by Jai Moondra, there was no answer to Rahmat, who sealed victory with a four.
