On Monday, Afghanistan cricket team claimed a historic first Test win in just their second ever Test. Australia is the only team who won in their maiden Test. Apart from that, England and Pakistan are the only two teams that have secured a Test win within two matches.
Afghanistan beat Ireland by 7 wickets in their second ever Test match. Rahmat Shah and Ihsanullah Janat scored fifties for Afghanistan as they chased down 147 for victory on day four of the only Test played between Afghanistan and Ireland in Dehradun, India.
Afghanistan make history! ??
They get their first Test win in only their second ever Test, beating Ireland by seven wickets in Dehradun! #AFGvIRE SCORECARD ➡️ https://t.co/mV1o12EBt1 pic.twitter.com/TcFgOTE3pB
— ICC (@ICC) March 18, 2019
Shah, a top-order batsman, registered his second fifty of the match after making 98 in Afghanistan’s first innings score of 314. After Afghanistan lost Shah and then Mohammad Nabi in successive deliveries with just 3-runs remaining to win. Then Hashmatullah Shahidi came to the crease and hit the winning boundary to trigger celebrations in the Afghanistan camp.
The second-placed bowler in the ICC one-day international rankings, ace spinner Rashid Khan had played a key role in the historic win by taking five wickets on Sunday’s day three to help dismiss Ireland for 288 in their second innings.
After making their five-day debut last year when they lost to India inside two days, it was Afghanistan’s only second Test outing which they have won successfully.
India took 20 years and 25 matches to taste their first Test win while New Zealand took 25 years and 45 matches to win their maiden Test. But Afghanistan won their maiden Test in their 2nd Test only and it took just 1 year and 7 months since they got Test status.
Number of matches to first Test win:
1 Australia
2 England
2 Pakistan
2 Afghanistan
6 West Indies
11 Zimbabwe
12 South Africa
14 Sri Lanka
25 India
35 Bangladesh
45 New Zealand#howzstat #AFGvIRE pic.twitter.com/rEiATttrd2— ICC (@ICC) March 18, 2019
Afghanistan have won their maiden ODI match against Scotland in 2009 which was also their maiden ODI appearance. Apart from that, they have tasted their first victory in T20I against Canada in just their second T20I ever. And now, by marking their second ever Test match as their maiden victory, Afghanistan have imposed a historic win and also warned the teams ahead of the ICC World Cup 2019 at England and Wales.