Ireland secured their historic first men’s Test win at the eighth time of asking by beating Afghanistan by six wickets in Abu Dhabi.
Captain Andrew Balbirnie marshalled a nervy chase of just 111 – they had been 13 for three – with an unbeaten 58, after man of the match Mark Adair picked up eight wickets to set up the victory in the one-off Test.
Tolerance Oval – in the shadow of the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, where the match was initially due to take place – was almost deserted when Ireland secured their victory on a turning track, but their players celebrated riotously.
“I can’t [believe this win],” said Balbirnie. “Obviously there were a bit of nerves; we were chasing our first win. It’s right up there. 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.
“We’ve created results, and created history. The monkey is off the back. Very special to do that.”
Ireland women’s team actually registered a victory 24 years before the men, winning their only Test in 2000. The men’s team were first admitted to Test cricket in 2018, when they hosted Pakistan at Malahide, but lost their first seven matches, including two against England at Lord’s.
Winning a Test for the first time at the eighth attempt reflects favourably when compared to other nations’ arrivals on the scene. Zimbabwe first won a Test in 1995 at the 11th attempt, Sri Lanka won at the 12th attempt in 1985, Bangladesh took 35 matches to record a first win in 2005, while New Zealand’s first win, in 1956, came at the 45th attempt.
Afghanistan arrived on the Test scene at a similar time to Ireland, and won their second match, against Ireland in 2019.
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