Ireland captain William Porterfield top-scored with 78 runs

Afghanistan grabbed late wickets to check Ireland's momentum on the opening day of the Intercontinental Cup clash in Sri Lanka.

The Irish finished on 324-7 but after William Porterfield and Gary Wilson had put on 120 for the first wicket.

Porterfield top-scored on 78 with Niall O'Brien hitting 66, Gary Wilson notching 53, Andrew White contributing 43 and Alex Cusack scoring 39.

John Mooney (5) and Trent Johnston (0) were still there at the close.

Wilson was the first Irish batsmen to depart after being caught by Samiullah Shenwar off Hamid Hassan's bowling.

Shenwar went on to produce Afghanistan's best bowling figures of 3-55 after dismissing Alex Cusack, Kevin O'Brien (16) and Andre Botha for a duck.

Kevin O'Brien's dismissal left Ireland on 231-5 but his brother Niall and Andrew White put on 85 runs for the sixth wicket to move Ireland beyond the 300 mark.

But wicket-keeper O'Brien then departed to leave Ireland on 316-6 and White was also out before the close.

Afghanistan defeated the Irish in last year's World Cup qualifiers in South Africa although it didn't prevent Ireland from winning the tournament.

The Irish badly need a victory over the four days in Dambulla to keep their hopes of four successive triumphs in the tournament after only managing draws in the two previous group outings against Kenya and Scotland.

The Scots currently lead the table while Afghanistan are also ahead of the Irish in the standings after recording a victory over the Netherlands.

Afghanistan are coached by former Pakistan Test fast bowler Kabir Khan.

After the ICC Intercontinental Cup match, the two sides will remain in Sri Lanka and will be also joined by Canada as part of their preparations for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers.

That is being staged from 9 to 13 February in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Afghanistan (from): Nawroz Khan Mangal, Mohamamd Shahzad Mohammadi, Karim Khan Sadiq, Mohammad Nabi Eisakhil, Merwais Ashraf, Raees Ahmadzai, Shahpoor Zardan, Shafiqullah Shafaq, Hamid Hasan, Samiullah Shinwari, Noor Ali Noori, Mohammad Asghar Stanikzai, Dawlat Ahmadzai and Obaidullah Konary

Ireland (from): William Porterfield (captain), Nigel Jones, Niall O'Brien, Gary Wilson, Trent Johnston, Andre Botha, Kevin O'Brien, John Mooney, Alex Cusack, Andrew White, Peter Connell, Phil Eaglestone and Gary Kidd.

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