Afghanistan vs Ireland, Only Test Day 2 preview: Afghans on course, can the Irish pull off an upset?

Afghanistan, 29/1 at stumps on Day Three, need another 117 to win the only Test against Ireland, at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun. Ihsanullah Janat (16*) and Rahmat Shah (11*) are at the crease. With the likes of Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, and Mohammad Nabi to follow, this is Afghanistan’s match to lose.

What about Ireland, then? On a slow turner like this, they would back the spinners to do the job for them. They had a go at Afghanistan for 16 overs in the evening, and every single one was bowled by spinners. Andy McBrine struck in the 10th over, having Mohammad Shahzad caught-behind down the leg. This was the inevitable result of a crawl, for Shahzad had gone into an uncharacteristic shell for his 34-ball 2.

Ireland began the day on 22/1, and were unfortunate to lose Paul Stirling to a poor decision. Replays revealed an inside edge that S Ravi had failed to pick up, and with no DRS available for the Test, Stirling became Yamin Ahmadzai’s second wicket of the innings.

Andy Balbirnie (82) and James McCollum (39) then took control, adding 104 for the third wicket. They thwarted the threat of Rashid Khan till after lunch.

Then Chinaman bowler Waqar Salamkheil had Balbirnie caught-behind. Then, with two quick deliveries, Rashid had McCollum LBW and Salamkheil had Stuart Poynter caught at slip; and Rashid had Stuart Thompson caught at slip as well.

From 137/2 Ireland slumped to 157/6 (the lead was a mere 37). For a while it seemed Afghanistan would finish things off inside three days.

Kevin O’Brien played his shots during his 78-ball 56, adding 63 with George Dockrell. Then Rashid triggered another collapse, trapping both men leg-before and McBrine stumped off a googly. The lead was a mere 90 at this stage.

But just like the first innings, the last wicket came to Ireland’s help. James Cameron-Dow and Tim Murtagh threw their bat around to add 58 for the last wicket in just 63 balls, their second fifty-run partnership in the Test. The innings ended when Murtagh top-edged a pull off Ahmadzai.

Brief scores:

Ireland 172 (Tim Murtagh 54; Yamin Ahmadzai 3/41, Mohammad Nabi 3/36) and 288 (Andy Balbirnie 82, Kevin O’Brien 56; Yamin Ahmadzai 3/52) and Rashid Khan 5/82) trail Afghanistan 314 (Mohammad Shahzad 40, Rahmat Shah 98, Hashmatullah Shahidi 61, Asghar Afghan 67; Stuart Thompson 3/28) and 29/1 (Ihsanullah Janat 16; Andy McBrine 1/8) by 117 runs.