Ireland defeated Afghanistan to clinch their first-ever win in a Test match
Ireland finally won their first Test match on Friday when they defeated Afghanistan by six wickets in Abu Dhabi, ending a streak of seven successive losses. Captain Andy Balbirnie led from the front with an undefeated 58 as Ireland reached their modest target of 111 in the final session of the third day. Ireland had played their first Test back in 2018 when they were defeated by Pakistan. “We’re absolutely excited. We’ve created history. The monkey is off the back and it’s very special to do that,” said Balbirnie whose team were wobbling at 13-3 at one stage.
“Obviously there were nerves; we were chasing our first win. You ask this whole group how special this is. A lot of our guys didn’t get to play Test cricket. Hopefully people back home want to be Test cricketers.”
Ireland are now the fourth fastest team in the 147 year history of Tests to clinch a win in the format. Australia took one match to win their first Test. England, Pakistan and Afghanistan took two matches to win their first Test. West Indies took six matches while Ireland has now taken eight matches. India won their first Test after 25 matches.
We’ll just leave this here… pic.twitter.com/BCYZaR7Vxq
— Cricket Ireland (@cricketireland) March 1, 2024
Afghanistan resumed their second innings Friday on 134-3 before they were dismissed for 218.
Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi top scored with 55 while Rahmanullah Gurbaz, making his Test debut, hit 46. Mark Adair picked up three wickets to finish with eight for the match. Craig Young and Barry McCarthy also claimed three apiece.
Gurbaz, better known for his flamboyant and explosive shot-making in limited overs cricket, clubbed the only two sixes of the innings.
Chasing just 111 for victory, Ireland were in trouble with three wickets down for just 13 runs with 18-year-old fast bowler Naveed Zadran clean-bowling opener Peter Moor and Curtis Campher, both without scoring.