Ireland Earns Historic First Test Win Against Afghanistan In Abu Dhabi – News18

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates: A captain’s knock by Andy Balbirnie sealed Ireland’s historic first victory in cricket’s longest format when it beat Afghanistan by six wickets in their one-off test on Friday.

Ireland slumped to 13-3 and 39-4 in its second innings in chase of a modest target of 111, but Balbirnie’s unbeaten 58 beside Lorcan Tucker got them home late on day three.

“There were a bit of nerves, we were chasing our first win,” Balbirnie said. “The monkey is off the back. Very special to do that.”

The Irish had lost all seven of their previous tests since 2018, including the only previous test with Afghanistan in 2019.

Tucker hit the winning single in front of a sparse crowd at Tolerance Oval, but the victory was set up by the bowlers.

Afghanistan started the day on 134-3 and a second-innings lead of 26 runs.

But fast bowlers 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. Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi led with 55 but Afghanistan lost its last five wickets for 45 runs.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Associated Press)