Afghanistan v Ireland: Afghans battle back as Test match evenly poised after day two
- Published
Paul Stirling top-scored in Ireland's first innings with 52
One-off Test, Tolerance Oval, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
Afghanistan155 all out Ibrahim Zadran 53, Karim Janit 41*; Adair 5-39 & 134-3 (Hashmatullah 53*) |
Ireland 263 all out Stirling 52, Campher 49, Tucker 46; Akbar 5-64, Naveed Zadran 3-59 |
Afghanistan lead by 26 runs after day two |
Afghanistan lead Ireland by 26 runs as they finished day two of their one-off Test 134-3 in their second innings.
Starting the second day on 100-4 in response to the Afghans' 155 all out, Ireland went on to make 263 all out, Paul Stirling top-scoring with 52.
He was ably supported by Lorcan Tucker (46) as the Irish led by 108 runs.
Afghanistan produced a strong response, with Noor Ali Zadran making 32 and captain Hashmatullah Shahid sitting 53 not out by close of play on Thursday.
The Afghan skipper is joined at the wicket by Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who is unbeaten on 23 going into day three.
Mark Adair, who secured his maiden five-wicket haul in the first innings on Wednesday, has claimed two of the three Afghan wickets to fall to date in his opponents' second innings, with fellow seamer and Test debutant Barry McCarthy taking the other.
Opener Ibrahim Zadran (12) and Rahmat Shah (9) both fell to the bowling of Adair.
After Tector's early dismissal on Thursday, Stirling and Tucker put on 80 for the sixth wicket, with Andy McBrine also making a significant contribution with 38.
Zia-ur-Rehman Akbar was the pick of the bowlers during Ireland's first innings, returning figures of 5-64, including the wickets of Curtis Campher (49) and Tucker.
Naheed Zadran added the wicket of Harry Tector (32) to the wickets of openers Peter Moor and Andrew Balbirnie, who both fell to his bowling on day one.