Afghanistan vs Ireland 2019, Only Test – Statistical Highlights

Afghanistan got the taste of a Test win in less than a year since their debut in this format as they defeated Ireland in the one-off game in Dehradun. The No.3 batsman Rahmat Shah scored twin fifties as he was the top-scorer for Afghanistan with 98 and 76 respectively to help them to clinch a 7-wicket victory. Rashid Khan claimed the first 5-wicket haul of Afghanistan with 5/82 in the 2nd essay. Tim Murtagh starred with the bat as No.11 as he added 145 runs for the 10th wicket across both innings; two runs less than Afghanistan’s target.

Here are all the major and numbers recorded during Afghanistan’s maiden Test victory:

An early win for Afghanistan:

2 – Afghanistan registered their maiden Test win in only their 2nd match; the joint 2nd fewest matches any team needed for their maiden Test win. Australia registered their first in the first ever Test match while England and Pakistan’s maiden win in this format came during the 2nd game they played.

Nabi joins a rare list:

2 – Mohammad Nabi is only the 2nd player to feature in a country’s maiden win in all the three formats of International cricket. Mohammad Rafique was also part of Bangladesh’s maiden wins in all the three formats.

Rashid gets his maiden Test 5-fer:

20y 178d – At the age of 20 years and 178 days on Sunday, the leg-spinner Rashid Khan became the youngest among the nine players to complete the set of 5-wicket hauls in all three formats of International cricket.

The 10th wicket rescue:

1 – Tim Murtagh became the first No.11 in the history of Test cricket to score 25+ in both innings of a match. He scored 54* in the first innings and 27 in the 2nd essay. Australia’s Arthur Mailey (21, 46*) scored 20+ in both innings of the 1924 Sydney Test against England which was previously best twin batting performance by No.11 batsman in a Test match.

2 – Ireland became only the 2nd country with two fifty-plus stands for the 10th wicket in a Test match. Australia had as many as three such instances all against England; in 1895 Adelaide Test, in 1924 Sydney Test and in 2013 Nottingham Test.

5 – Ireland’s first innings was only the 5th instance where the 10th wicket partnership doubled the score in a Test inning. Ireland were nine down for 85 runs but George Dockrell and Murtagh added 87 runs for the final wicket.

11 – Tim Murtagh’s unbeaten 54 in the first innings helped him to be the top-scorer for Ireland. He thus became only the 11th No.11 batsman to top score in a Test inning. This was also only the 3rd instance of the No.11 batsman being the lone player to cross 50 in the innings.

A home and away for Afghans:

2 – Afghanistan played both their Test matches thus far in India – against India in Bangalore and now against Ireland in Dehradun. While the first game against India is regarded as an away game, the Test against Ireland is their home match.

Thus, they became only the 2nd country to be the “home” team and “away” team in Test cricket in the same country. Pakistan hosted Australia in a Test in 2002 in Sri Lanka and also hosted the Aussies in England during a 2-match Test series in 2010.

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