Ireland will clash against Afghanistan in the first ODI of the five-match series at Bready Cricket Club, Magheramason, on Wednesday, August 5.
Captained by Paul Stirling, Ireland last played an ODI against the West Indies at home in May 2025, levelling the three-match series 1-1. Meanwhile, Afghanistan suffered a 0-3 ODI series defeat to India away from home in June 2026.
IRE vs AFG, ODI Series 2026, Match 1, Match Details
Match: Ireland vs Afghanistan, ODI Series 2026, Match 1
Time & Date: 3:15 PM IST, Wednesday, August 5
Venue: Bready Cricket Club, Bready, Northern Ireland
IRE vs AFG, ODI Series 2026, Match 1 Probable XIs
Ireland
Andrew Balbirnie, Paul Stirling (c), Cade Carmichael, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), George Dockrell, Curtis Campher, Andy McBrine, Mark Adair, Liam McCarthy, Jai Moondra
Afghanistan
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah (c), Hashmatullah Shahidi, Darwish Rasooli, Nangeyalia Kharote, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Fazalhaq Farooqi
IRE vs AFG, ODI Series 2026, Match 1 Pitch Report
The surface at this venue is expected to assist both batters and bowlers equally. New ball pacers will extract lateral movement in the initial overs. However, batters will have their fair share as the game progresses
IRE vs AFG, ODI Series 2026, Match 1 Top Picks
Curtis Campher
Irish all-rounder Curtis Campher is expected to do well in both the batting and bowling departments.
Azmatullah Omarzai
Azmatullah Omarzai had a forgetful ODI series against India. However, he would be aiming to turn the tables in this fixture.
IRE vs AFG, ODI Series 2026, Match 1 Captain picks
Andrew Balbirnie
Andrew Balbirnie is one of the most consistent batters for Ireland in this particular format. We can expect a lot of points from him.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Rahmanullah Gurbaz amassed 148 runs from three games at an average of 49.33 in the recent India ODI series.
IRE vs AFG, ODI Series 2026, Match 1 Head to Head Dream11 team
Andrew Balbirnie (c), Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Curtis Campher (vc), Andy McBrine, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Azmatullah Omarzai, AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi
IRE vs AFG, ODI Series 2026, Match 1 Grand League Dream11 team
Andrew Balbirnie, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, George Dockrell, Curtis Campher, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Azmatullah Omarzai (vc), Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi
