Ireland suffer 39-run defeat against Afghanistan in second ODI at Stormont

William Porterfield and Ed Joyce put on 71 for the first wicket before the skipper's departure

Afghanistan have taken a 1-0 lead in the five-game series against Ireland after winning the second match at Stormont by 39 runs on Tuesday.

After the abandonment of Sunday's opener, the Afghans posted a decent 250 total, with Mohammad Shahzad hitting 66 and Najibullah Zadran contributing 59.

In reply, Ed Joyce and skipper William Porterfield put on 71 for the first wicket before a mid-innings collapse.

Sussex batsman Joyce hit 62, but Kevin O'Brien was the next best scorer on 35.

O'Brien and Barry McCarthy both took four Afghanistan wickets, but the visitors' total still proved comfortably beyond the Irish.

The hosts opted to move regular opener Paul Stirling down to number six as Joyce opened with Porterfield.

John Anderson's departure left the home side on 160-4 but Stirling could only manage 16 as he was dismissed shortly after O'Brien's exit to leave the Irish in trouble at 189-6.

The Irish tail was unable to wag after that as Tim Murtagh's dismissal by Dawlat Zadran ended the contest.

John Bracewell's Irish side were suffering another reverse after their 136-run hammering by Sri Lanka at Malahide last month, which was their heaviest ever home defeat.

Team captain Porterfield admitted that his team's batting performance hadn't been good enough.

"We didn't get across the line with the bat. We've got the rectify that for Thursday's game," said Porterfield.

The sides meet again at Stormont on Thursday before the two concluding games in the series at the same venue on Sunday and next Tuesday.