After Ireland's elusive victory over Afghanistan in the World League clash at VOC, captain Trent Johnston said: "All the lads bowled well. The spinners are still short of a run but we knew they would want to hit boundaries and if we could stop them we could take wickets and that's what happened.

“Cusi (Alex Cusack) took two wickets in his first over and we never looked back from there other than a couple of overs when they came out swinging. But that's the way they play their cricket. We expected that, hung in there and took our chances when they came.”

Johnston also explained why Albert van der Merwe missed out on selection on the turning pitch.

"Jonesey (Nigel Jones) would have bowled if we had bowled first. (George) Dockrell has bowled well in Twenty20 so no reason why he can't do it against No 9 and 10 in an ODI. I have confidence in my bowlers. So it was the same with Whitey (Andrew White). I threw him the ball in the World Cup so with 170 caps under his belt I was going to throw him the ball as well He did well in a good all round team performance."

And the captain also paid tribute to man of the match Andrew Poynter.

“Poynts is working a lot harder than he was last year. He has brought his club form into the tournament and has put his name in the frame for a World Cup place next year and that innings, on a turning pitch, is great for him. He just has to keep working hard on his fitness which he has been doing,” said Johnston.

As for his own late order contribution (42 off 28 balls), he added: “It was nice to get a few runs and hit a few out of the park and if I get the opportunity to do the same again hopefully it will come off.”