Afghans savour first Test win

Dehradun, March 18

Afghanistan registered their first Test victory after Rahmat Shah’s second fifty of the match helped secure their seven-wicket win against Ireland in a one-off contest.

Chasing 147 for the victory, Afghanistan rode a 139-run stand between Shah and Ihsanullah Janat to romp home for a memorable win nine months after their chastening Test debut against India. After falling two short of becoming Afghanistan’s first-ever Test centurion in their first innings, Shah grinded out an impressive 76, while Janat remained unbeaten on 65.

Afghanistan lost Shah and Mohammad Nabi to back-to-back deliveries in a James Cameron-Dow over before Hashmatullah Shahidi smashed the winning boundary to trigger celebrations in the Afghan dressing room. Ireland were on the backfoot from the opening day when they were they were bowled out for 172 at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium. Afghanistan responded with a total of 314 all out to secure a healthy first innings lead.

In-form Andrew Balbirnie top-scored with 82 in a much-improved second-innings batting display from Ireland but leg-spinner Rashid Khan’s maiden five-wicket haul restricted them to 288 all out. The Irish side’s home debut ended in a defeat by Pakistan in a hard-fought contest last May, while Afghanistan succumbed inside two days against top-ranked India a month later in Bengaluru. — Reuters

Brief Scores: Ireland: 172 and 288; Afghanistan: 314 and 149/3 (Rahmat 76, Ihsanullah 65*) 

2 Both Ireland and Afghanistan were playing their second-ever Test since being awarded a full member status in 2017

3-0 Afghanistan had won the T20I series 3-0 at their adopted home in Dehradun before Ireland rebounded in the ODI series, which ended in a 2-2 draw