Afghanistan vs Ireland Test Day 2: Zia-ur-Rehman’s Five-Wicket Haul and Shahidi’s Unbeaten Fifty Lead Remarkable Fightback
In the Abu Dhabi Test match between Afghanistan and Ireland, Zia-ur-Rehman’s remarkable five-wicket haul and Hashmatullah Shahidi’s resilient unbeaten fifty propelled Afghanistan to stage a remarkable fightback after conceding a significant first-innings lead.
Afghanistan dropped 108 runs in the first innings, but they were able to make up some of that lead in Abu Dhabi.
Ireland 263 (Stirling 52 Campher 49, Zia-ur-Rehman 5-64, Naveed 3-59) leads Afghanistan 155 and 134 for 3 (Shahidi 53*, Noor 32, Adair 2-23) by 26 runs.
Afghanistan‘s batting was spearheaded by Hashmatullah Shahidi’s undefeated fifty-three, which left the Abu Dhabi Test in a precarious position at day’s end. Afghanistan rallied to close the day with 134 for 3 in their second innings, with a lead of 26 runs, after giving up a 108-run lead in the first innings.
Ireland will be hoping that their spinners can have more of an impact on day three, while Shahidi will begin his stand with debutant Rahmanullah Gurbaz on Friday.
Ireland reached 263 thanks to a 52-point effort by Paul Stirling and four other hitters who scored between 30 and 50. The velocity of Naveed Zadran and the control of left-arm spinner Zia-ur-Rehman prevented Ireland’s batsmen from building on their early successes.
After zia wheeled away for 30 overs, Naveed took 3 for 59 while Zia returned 5 for 64, his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket history.
In the opening over of the day, under overcast skies, Naveed had encountered inconsistent bounce, while Zia, on the other end, had routinely ripped the ball beyond the edge after it had drifted in towards the stumps. Naveed made his overnight score of 32 when he got Harry Tector leg before wicket in the fifth over of the day after he got a length ball to seam back in.
Then, with Ireland 49 runs adrift and five wickets remaining, Lorcan Tucker joined Stirling. The tight lengths and spin-friendly pitch prevented Ireland from getting away, even though a few boundaries gave the hitters some breathing room.
But Stirling attacked Zahir Khan, a left-arm wristspinner, with sweeps and pulls, and Khan was unable to hold the strain. Now that the outfield was available, Ireland took the lead. The day’s first 19 overs saw 45 runs scored, while the next 7.4 overs saw 41 more.
Kohli smashed more than one record held by Tendulkar during his historic century, though. In addition, he surpassed Tendulkar in the record for most runs in an ODI World Cup. When Kohli struck his 80th run in Wednesday’s semi-final, he overtook Tendulkar’s record of 673 runs from the 2003 World Cup and became the first batter to reach 700 runs in an ODI World Cup.
Kohli amassed 711 runs in the competition at an average of 101.57 and a strike rate of 90.68 before being bowled out for 117 off 113 balls
In Test cricket, Stirling and Tucker’s 80 was the highest sixth-wicket stand for Ireland. The previous high for Ireland came in the Mirpur match against Bangladesh last year, with Tucker and Tector scoring 72.
While Tucker frequently found the fielders, he did center a couple drives. Slow but surely, Andy McBrine helped Ireland surpass the 200 mark. The stand came to an end when Rahmat Shah grabbed Tucker after Zia lured him with a loud drive.
Then came Mark Adair, who frequently failed to read the spinners off the hand. To finish his five-for, Zia trapped both Adair and No. 10 Barry McCarthy leg before wicket. McBrine skied a catch to mid-off off Nijat, leaving him the final player out.
Afghanistan’s batsmen improved in the second innings after folding for 155 in the first. Noor Ali and Ibrahim Zadran were able to find spaces on the offside to balls that were not very long. However, Ireland made the first breakthrough when Peter Moor made an incredible one-handed catch at the gully off Adair. After Ibrahim steered a wide-length ball, Moor fell to his left, reached down to grab the ball, and stood up quickly with it. When the third umpire was brought in, he was certain that the catch was clean.
Then, shortly after leaving Afghanistan at 38 for 2, Rahmat succumbed. Despite a few nervous moments, Noor and Shahidi managed to stabilize the innings. In the eleventh over, Shahidi was even struck on the glove by excessive bounce. However, the two dismissed Adair’s initial seven-over session, which resulted in 2 for 23, and they went straight after Theo van Woerkom.
The batters were put to the test by Young’s quick pace and McBrine’s fly and dip, but they continued to rotate the strike. In the twenty-fifth over, Ireland burned a review, but McCarthy handed them a break when he had Noor fight off a ball that was somewhat short and skidded off the pitch to Adair at gully.
Gurbaz struck early, hitting McBrine over mid-on to raise Afghanistan’s hundred. Then, he took McCarthy apart piece by point to put them ahead. Afghanistan’s lead was further cemented when Shahidi again took aim at van Woerkom.
