Nearly seven years after achieving the Test status, Ireland on Friday (March 1) managed to register their first victory in the longest format of the game and it came against Afghanistan.

Interestingly, the two teams had last met in a Test in 2019 and it was Afghanistan, who recorded their maiden win in the format against Ireland back then.

Ireland played their first Test in May 2018 against Pakistan, followed by a couple more in 2019 versus Afghanistan and England. Last year, they participated in four matches, with losses against England, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Playing their eighth Test against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi, Ireland were invited to bowl first. It was a good toss to lose for the Irish side as they bundled out Afghanistan for a paltry 155 on the back of pacer Mark Adair’s five-wicket haul (5/39). Adair was ably supported by the pace of Barry McCarthy(1/28), Craig Young (2/32) and Curtis Campher (2/13).

Opener Ibrahim Zadran was the top-scorer for Afghanistan in the first innings with 53 off 83 balls while Karim Janat made a vital contribution of 41 not out.

In reply, Ireland racked up 263 on the board, courtesy of Paul Stirling’s half-century (52) and handy contributions from Curtis Campher (49), Lorcan Tucker (46) and Andy McBrine (38).

After conceding a significant first-innings lead of 108 runs, Afghanistan’s second innings folded for 218 as Adair, McCarthy and Young ran through their batting line-up with three scalps each.

Chasing 111 to win, Ireland found themselves in a spot of bother at 13/3. However, Irish skipper Andrew Balbirnie combined first with Paul Stirling and then with Tucker, sharing a half-century stand for the fifth wicket to take his team over the finishing line.

Balbirnie's unbeaten knock of 58 paved the way for Ireland's historic six-wicket win over Afghanistan on Day 3 of the one-off Test match.

(With ICC Inputs)