Afghanistan v Ireland: Captain Andrew Balbirnie says Ireland need to be ruthless to win series finale

Balbirnie is determined to end the series on a high

Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie has said his team need to be more ruthless if they are to win the final match of their one-day international series against Afghanistan.

Ireland trail 2-0 in the three-match series in Abu Dhabi after Sunday's seven-wicket defeat.

Despite not being able to win the series, there are 10 vital World Cup qualifying points available and Balbirnie is determined to win them.

"We must improve our basics," he said.

"We could certainly be more accurate with the ball, there is no shying away from that. We probably bowled too many freebies to them on Sunday.

"We also need someone to push on to get a big score once they get in. Over the last couple of games we have had a lot of people who have got starts and maybe not kicked on as well as we would have liked, apart from Paul Stirling in the second game.

"It is just those opportunities that we have maybe let slip. We need to have that ruthless attitude that we have been lacking, but the beauty of it is we have another chance on Tuesday to go out and put in a performance."

Paul Stirling paid tribute to the late Roy Torrens upon reaching his 11th ODI hundred

Having lost the opening match, Sunday's defeat came despite Paul Stirling's 11th ODI hundred, which saw the Belfast man overtake William Porterfield as Ireland's all-time leading run-scorer across all formats.

Ireland's total of 259 was easily chased down and Balbirnie admitted that they were not good enough, but stressed the importance of winning the final match.

"We didn't create enough chances with the ball to get the win and we didn't have anyone to back up Paul Stirling's magnificent 100," he continued.

"I think if someone had chipped in with a 60 or 70 or more, that could have got us up to near 300 and potentially a winning score but it wasn't to be. Their batsmen made us pay and that was the difference.

"It (Tuesday's match) is hugely important. We got up and running with 10 points in Southampton (by beating England) but if you don't back those performances up it can be a bit of a waste getting results like that.

"So, yes, big for the 10 points but also big for this group to come to a tricky place and beat a team like Afghanistan. We beat the UAE after losing the first game which gave the lads a lot of confidence.

"We are due to go to Zimbabwe in March for three more games so if we can get a win at the back end of this tour it will give us a bit of momentum and confidence to go into that series with."