Though it was made clear in the rain-affected first match that Ireland will have to go through the World Cup Qualifiers to book a permanent spot for the 50-over tournament happening in India this year in October-November, Andrew Balbirnie’s side was hopeful of levelling the series against Bangladesh by winning the last match. And it was shown in the encounter the way the Irish side fought till the last ball. But even their joint effort couldn’t stop the Tigers from clinching the series 2-0.
After winning the toss in the 3rd ODI, Ireland opted to chase. Seam bowling all-rounder Mark Adair proved the decision right and gave an early blow to the opposition by removing the opener Rony Talukdar at 4. But Najmul Hossain Shanto, with captain Tamim Iqbal, ensured that Bangladesh did not lose any more wickets in the powerplay.
Even after the fall of Shanto in the 11th over, Tamim and Litton Das kept scoring runs at will. The middle-order batters, in the form of Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehidy Hasan, managed to take the team above 250 and eventually set the target of 275 for the opposition. Adair was the hero for the Irish side, picking up four wickets and giving just 40 runs in the tight spell of 10 overs.
In reply, Ireland lost the early wicket of Stephen Doheny at the start, but the veteran opener Paul Stirling and Barbirnie provided stability and took the team over 100. They both got out in the span of 20 runs and soon, the Irish team found themselves in trouble. The young guns, Lorcan Tucker and Harry Tector, added an important partnership of 79 runs and kept the hosts in the hunt. But Shanto and Mustafizur Rehman had other plans as they soon reduced the side from 225-3 to 242-7.
After performing well with the ball, Adair scored 20 at a strike rate of 200 but failed to take his team to the finish line as Ireland lost by 4 runs. Bangladesh eventually won the 3-match series 2-0, with the first ODI being called off due to rain.
