Ireland has defeated Afhganistan by six wickets to seal a maiden Test victory off the back of stunning captain’s knock by Andrew Balbirnie.
Chasing 111 at Tolerance Oval in the UAE, opener Balbirnie was down the other end as his side slumped to 3-13 in just the fifth over.
But from there, he first teamed up with Paul Stirling and then wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker to steady the ship and guide his side home.
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“We’re absolutely excited – we’ve created history,” Balbirnie said.
“The monkey is off the back and it’s very special to do that.”
Balbirnie said he was obviously nervous as he closed in on the victory, but hoped doing so would inspire others to play what is more or less an underground sport in Ireland.
“Obviously there were nerves; we were chasing our first win,” he said.
“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.”
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The Irish had lost all seven of their previous tests since 2018, including the only previous test with Afghanistan in 2019.
Balbirnie finished 58 not out off 96 balls. Tucker hit the winning single in front of a sparse crowd, but the victory was set up by the bowlers.
Afghanistan started the day on 3-134 with a second-innings lead of 26 before the Irish quicks ripped in.
Mark Adair, debutant Barry McCarthy and Craig Young took three wickets each, and spinner Theo van Woerkom took his first test wicket to dismiss the Afghans for 218.
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Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi led with 55 but Afghanistan lost its last five wickets for 45 runs.
Adair was awarded player of the match with match figures of 8-95.
“I’m buzzing. Obviously very nice to get a win. Absolutely chuffed,” he said.
“Test cricket is pretty difficult. I think we’ve got a really good bowling group. In the last year, we’ve played a lot of cricket.”
The Test was a one-off before a three-match ODI series between the two sides that starts Thursday.
– With AP