(Cricket News) Afghanistan and Ireland were a little worried about the circumstances because a Test match had never been held at Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi. Up until a point where reverse swing started to play a larger role, neither side could have predicted such a strong, conventional swing even back then.
There was also movement available off the field. The ten Afghanistan wickets fell in a just 55 overs, thanks in large part to the accuracy of Ireland’s fast bowlers, especially Mark Adair.
Under a beautiful and brilliant sky, Hashmatullah Shahidi had chosen to bat in the hopes that spin would be useful when they bowled during the fourth Test innings. However, Afghanistan was only 55 ahead at the close of the first day, with six Ireland wickets left.
After Ireland was 32 for 2 in the tenth over, Curtis Campher and Harry Tector, their third wicket combination, contributed 60. Afghanistan, after seven overs, was 11 for 2. After a 55-run partnership between Shahidi and Ibrahim Zadran to save their innings, Shahidi hit one down leg off Brian McCarthy, one of Ireland’s three debutants.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the lone debutant from Afghanistan, and Ibrahim then added 22 more. But the wheels came off for Afghanistan at 86 for 3, shortly after lunch. And Adair, who had taken two of the three wickets up to that point, pulled the trigger. Adair had Noor Ali Zadran nicking to second slip on the third ball of the seventh over, which was the first of such incidents.
Adair claimed two more victims: Zia-ur-Rehman, who ended a run of more misses than hits with a one-to-second slip, and Zahir Khan, for whom Adair may have saved his best for last. Adair, who was approaching the left-hander from around the wicket, landed one on a length about off and managed to straighten the ball such that it struck the top of off.
Aside from Adair’s five-for, Craig Young, making his debut, and Campher each claimed two wickets. The most significant of them was Ibrahim’s, who, like his skipper Shahidi, ultimately clipped down the leg side in order to give the wicketkeeper a catch. He had scored 53 of the 90 runs on the board up to that point.
While this was going on, Campher cleaned up the tail end, hitting two boundaries in the 50th over, following Naveed Zadran’s 42 ball tire. In the second over, Andy Balbirnie was given a life when Rahmat failed to make a straightforward catch off Naveed at gully. However, Naveed pinned him in front to end his stay in his subsequent over.
Ball-tracking proved that Balbirnie’s review was pointless because the ball would have struck the middle of the leg. After that early setback, Campher entered at No. 3 and had a significant impact on the day’s events.
Ireland was due for more luck, but they were unable to take advantage of it. The other opening batsman for Ireland, Peter Moor, was only participating in his second Test match for his adopted nation.
Naveed cleaned him up with a ball that came back in sharply from outside off when he was on 10 in the sixth over, after he had only got 10 and 11 in his first. However, he was summoned back halfway to the pavilion due to Naveed’s front foot going over the line.
Moor, who was still on 10, was declared out lbw off the last legal ball of the sixth over, but he appealed the call using the DRS. However, in the tenth over, he sliced Naveen on to his stumps for twelve, so he was unable to make it matter.
At that point, Tector and Campher teamed up. Ireland’s runs came steadily, with Campher at the front. With five boundaries in his first 17 balls, he hit 25. Tector, on the other end, was more composed as he marked off singles.
However, Zia, a left-arm spinner, pulled off a surprise late in the day by getting Campher to nick behind Gurbaz for 49. After two overs, Theo van Woerkom, a nightwatcher and the third player to arrive in Ireland, was dismissed for one run off a classical delivery that veered in and out of the field. But Tector and Paul Stirling saw Ireland through to the finish of the match unscathed.
See more: Latest ICC Test Rankings: Updated Standings and Rankings Revealed.
