Ireland 69 for 7 (Dockrell 4*, McBrine 3*, Nabi 3-6, Rashid 2-5) v Afghanistan
Ireland called right this morning, but that is the only thing that went right for them on the opening morning of their second Test.
They struck some early blows, raced to start and then kept playing shots to give away wickets, losing five for 18 at one stage in a five-over passage. After dominating proceedings for 30 minutes where Afghanistan failed to string together dots, they collapsed and quite badly. With the pitch already taking turn and Afghanistan having in their ranks two trump cards Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, a get-out-of-jail looks increasingly unlikely.
All the batting unit had to show was Paul Stirling’s aggressive 26 at the top, 24 off which came off boundaries. Three of those alone came in a single over off Yameen Ahmadzai. Ireland raced to 37 without loss in the eight over, with Afghanistan struggling to conjure a single maiden over.
It took Afghanistan 28.4 overs in their debut Test to pick up their first wicket, and for the first half hour of their maiden ‘home’ Test in Dehradun, it looked like a similar fate could play out. But they regrouped and made their turnaround look as simple as flicking a switch on. How? Simple. They introduce spin early.
Ireland’s old nemesis Rashid, who had an injury cloud in the build-up to the Test, struck twice in his first over, and suddenly Ireland were pushing and prodding to bat out till lunch. The surface offered turn all right, but it was not as bad as Ireland’s scorecard read.
Ahmadzai eventually had Stirling after Afghanistan strung together 20 dots to induce frustration. He bowled one that nibbled away to take the edge through to the keeper. Exactly six balls later, William Porterfield was done in by drift, squared up by one that spun away sharply to be lbw off Nabi.
Andy Balbirne walked in at No. 3 and looked every bit a nervous wreck looking for his first Test runs. A debut against Pakistan was far from memorable as he bagged a pair, but he didn’t have to wait long here. He pushed with hard hands to get a thick edge past the slips for his first boundary, but he didn’t inspire any confidence.
Three of his seven deliveries drew a thick edge, two were squirted off an inside edge. It took a ripper from Ahmazdai to have him too. Getting one to veer back in from wide of the crease, he had Balbirne rooted to the crease as he poked outside the line, with the ball sneaking through to crash into the stumps. This was as much influence the pacers had as spin took over soon after.
Rashid’s Test inception was forgettable. He was walloped for three fours in his first over by Shikhar Dhawan, and then smacked for two fours and a six off his fourth. He kept overbowling the googly, dropped short, failed to have any control over the new red cheery like he does with the white ball. Any such thoughts of trying to work his way in and settle down were taken out of the window as Ireland gifted him two wickets in three balls.
James McCollum chopped on after failing to read a googly, while Stuart Ponyter missed a rank full toss to be struck flush on the toe. While he was given out, replays suggested he may have been a touch unlucky as the angle may have taken it down leg. The only hope at that stage was Kevin O’Brien, who punctured Pakistan’s attack with a magnificent century on debut.
But when he and Stuart Thomspon were out playing with hard hands, Ireland were in danger of being bowled out before lunch. Andy McBrine and George Dockrell huffed and puffed, blocked and somehow found a way to survive, but that didn’t make Ireland’s position any less dire.
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