Balbirnie leads Ireland home for their first Test victory.

In the one-off Test in Abu Dhabi, Ireland beat Afghanistan thanks to a role unbeaten half-century from captain Andrew Balbirnie. This was Ireland’s first-ever victory in Test cricket. At one point, it seemed as though Ireland would never win the format despite playing their first Test match in 2018. However, in the difficult run chase of 111, Balbirnie was able to effectively lead them home.

Afghanistan was in a vulnerable position by the second day’s stumps. But they still had a chance to make a difference. With their team leading by 26, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi had already scored an undefeated half-century and had Rahmanullah Gurbaz to accompany him. Shahidi, though, was trapped leg-before-wicket for 55 runs early in the day. They were put under pressure after losing another fast wicket, which made the situation worse.

Gurbaz put in a lot of effort to score 46, and Naveed Zadran persevered for a long time to add a vital 25 that helped push Afghanistan’s lead over 100. But Afghanistan got off to a fantastic start with the ball, setting the opposition a target of just 111. In the chase’s second over alone, Zadran dismissed Peter Moor for a duck, and Curtis Campher lost his stumps off the very next delivery. Harry Tector was out for two after two overs, and the batting team was soon struggling at 13/3.

Paul Stirling’s three boundaries provided a fleeting respite. But his departure compounded Ireland’s problems as the batting side still needed 72 to win. Together with Lorcan Tucker, Balbirnie then put an end to Afghanistan’s rampage while maintaining Ireland’s stability. The duo made sure the runs continued to come in by consistently rotating the strike and identifying the peculiar boundary. In the next overs, both batsmen hit boundaries to end the game when Balbirnie reached his fifty.