AFG vs IRE, 1st Test, Day 2 Review: Afghanistan regain lost ground as Hashmatullah Shahidi scores unbeaten half-century

Afghanistan and Ireland are currently locking horns in the one-off Test at the Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi. At the close of Day 1, Ireland stood at 100 for 4, with Harry Tector unbeaten on 32 alongside Paul Stirling.

Unfortunately for Tector, his innings came to an end on Day 2 without adding any more runs, as he fell victim to Naveed Zadran's delivery. However, Stirling soldiered on to reach a half-century before being dismissed by a well-flighted delivery from Zahir Khan at the stroke of the lunch. Khan's delivery tossed up in the middle, it lands and spins back in. The batter attempted to defend it but was beaten by the turn and eventually hit the stumps. His knock comprised 52 runs off 89 balls, studded with seven boundaries.

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Lorcan Tucker aimed to anchor the innings but fell short of a deserved fifty, for just four runs. Andy McBrine then played a significant knock, batting down the order, contributing 38 runs off 74 deliveries as Ireland reached a total of 263 runs. Afghanistan's Zia-ur-Rehman stood out among the bowlers, claiming a five-wicket haul, and conceding just 64 runs. Naveed Zadran secured three wickets, while Nijad Masood and Zahir Khan chipped in with one wicket each.

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Afghanistan failed to make a solid start in their second innings, losing the wicket of Ibrahim Zadran, who had scored a half-century in the first innings, to Mark Adair in the seventh over. Adair continued his bowling prowess, dismissing Rahmat Shah for nine runs in the ninth over. However, Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (53*) and wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23*) steadied the innings, guiding their team to 134/3 by stumps on Day 2.

On the opening day, Afghanistan had opted to bat first after winning the toss but were bundled out for 155 runs. Adair emerged as the star for Ireland, claiming impressive figures of 5/39, with Craig Young and Curtis Campher chipping in with two wickets each.