The Irish have arrived, with Pakistan waiting to greet them…
12/05/2018. This is the day (would have been earlier if not for the inclement weather) when the Irish men’s cricket team is finally able to say, after over a decade of being the noisy underdogs notorious for their hat-trick of killing giants in ICC World Cups (Pakistan in 2007, England in 2011 and West Indies in 2015), that they are now the 11th nation to play men’s test cricket. Intriguingly, the weather on the second day seemed to be the complete opposite of the day before. Bright and as sunny as can be, it reflected the spirits of Irish cricket and its supporters.
It is to be noted that Ireland’s women’s team already played their first test in 2000, also against Pakistan, with Isobel Joyce, sister of current men’s cricket Ed Joyce, taking 6 wickets. Boyd Rankin made history too, becoming the first cricketer ever to play all three formats for two different nations, having played for England from 2013 to 2014 and representing Ireland at every level since he was just 13. Today was a momentous occasion, with all eleven Irishmen receiving their test caps. Those weren’t to be the only test debutants either, as Faheem Ashraf and Imam Ul Haq were dressed in all-white for the first time.
First over in Test cricket:
ENG: Alfred Shaw
AUS: John Hodges
SA: Gus Kempis
WI: George Fancis
NZ: Ted Badcock
IND: Mohammad Nissar
PAK: Khan Mohammad
SL: Ashantha de Mel
ZIM: Eddo Brandes
BAN: Hasibul Hossain
IRE: Tim Murtaghhttps://t.co/0urx7dbMOl #IREvPAK
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 12, 2018
Play ball in Malahide
So, with the formalities taken care of, how did the first ball in the history of Irish men’s test cricket turn out? Surprisingly physical, with Imam Ul Haq colliding into Tyrone Kane and Niall O’Brien in what the commentators described as an ‘accidental pincer movement’ after Azhar Ali hit away Tim Murtagh for a single. He was down for quite a while too, clutching the back of his neck. Thankfully, he did get up shortly after, and looked set to proceed unscathed. It took till the last ball of the seventh over for the first wicket to fall, with Boyd Rankin claiming Azhar’s scalp. Ireland got their second a ball later, with Tim Murtagh trapping Imam Ul Haq in front of the stumps.
After this rocky start from Pakistan, Asad Shafiq and Haris Sohail managed to steady the ship with a 58-run partnership until Haris edged Stuart Thompson through to Will Porterfield. From then on, it was a see-saw affair – and Ireland tuned in with timely wickets just as Pakistan threatened to pull away. With the score at a worrying 159 for 6, the Islamabad United duo, Faheem Ashraf and Shadab Khan, stepped up with 61 and 52 respectively in an incredible 100+ partnership, lifting the Pakistani side to 268/6. The weather interrupted the game again, possibly doubling as a sign of divine intervention for the Irish, as bad light forced the umpires to call it a day after 76 overs had been played. An entertaining day overall, and a good start to something new.