Ireland Beat Afghanistan To Claim Maiden Test Victory

Ireland finally won their first Test match on Friday when they defeated Afghanistan by six wickets in Abu Dhabi, ending a streak of seven successive losses.

Balbirnie denied the teenager a hat-trick but Harry Tector was soon caught behind by Gurbaz off Nijat Masood for two.

Balbirnie and Paul Stirling, who both played in Ireland's debut Test in 2018, briefly steadied dressing room nerves.

Stirling was then caught in the slips off left-arm spinner Zia-ur-Rehman for 14 as Ireland slipped to 39-4 just after tea.

However, Balbirnie moved watchfully to his fourth Test half-century, which came from 86 balls, ably supported by Lorcan Tucker (27 not out) in a crucial winning partnership of 72.

"I think the first day, when we were batting, we let ourselves down," said Shahidi.

"The Irish seamers were bowling very well but we threw our wickets away."

He added: "We have some positives. Gurbaz was very positive on debut. Naveed had had a good Test against Sri Lanka, and in this match also he did very well."

Irish fast bowler Adair said he was "buzzing" with the victory.

"Test cricket is pretty difficult. I think we've got a really good bowling group," he said.

The two teams will now play three one-day internationals and three T20 games as part of their multi-format series.