Ireland cricket team makes progress despite a defeat last week to Bangladesh one of the powers in world cricket
Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim in the Test against Ireland (Getty Images)Ireland’s long-awaited return to Test cricket after a four-year hiatus ended with a seven-wicket loss to Bangladesh in Dhaka last week.
While the result was not entirely surprising, that Ireland managed to set a three-figure total for the hosts to chase in the fourth innings seemed improbable after staring at the prospect of an innings defeat on Day 3.
Reduced to 13-4 in the second innings trailing by 142 runs, Ireland were running the risk of being bowled out cheaply had it not been for debutant Harry Tector’s half-century, followed by fellow debutant Lorcan Tucker’s come-from-behind 108 off 162 balls, only the second-ever Test hundred by an Irishman, and Andy McBrine’s rearguard 72.
With lack of first-class domestic cricket in place and as many as seven new caps handed prior to the Test, Ireland were relatively thin on experience in the format as compared to Bangladesh, whose players had a combined tally of 442 Test appearances.
Other debutants for Ireland included Munster Reds captain and former Zimbabwe wicketkeeper-batter Peter Moor, who coincidentally played the last of his previous eight Tests at the same venue, and Northern Knights leg-spinner Ben White.
Despite the odds stacked against them, Ireland did enjoy their moments in the sun.
Having opted to bat, the visitors were bowled out on the first day for 214 with Tector top-scoring with 50 and becoming the first Irish batter to score a half-century in his maiden Test innings.
In response, Bangladesh rode on Mushfiqur Rahim’s 10th Test century - 126 off 166 balls - and captain Shakib Al Hasan’s 87 to post 369 and gain a commanding lead of 155.
Donemana off-spinner Andy McBrine picked up six wickets for 118 to register the best figures by an Ireland bowler in the format eclipsing Tim Murtagh’s 5-13 on the first morning at Lord’s in 2019.
Any hopes of staging a comeback seemed remote after the visitors lost four wickets within seven overs but Tector, Tucker and McBrine batted proactively, sweeping and using their feet effectively against the spinners. The batters resisted and strung along partnerships with Tucker and McBrine sharing a 111-run stand before being bowled out for 292.
Set 138 to win, a modest total on a pitch that had eased out for batting, Rahim struck an unbeaten 51 to complete the chase for the hosts shortly after lunch on the fourth day.
“We all just enjoyed playing Test cricket again - the ebbs and flows of the game," said Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie.
"One minute you're up, one minute you're down and you have to show a lot of fight, which we did. But in the end we didn't show enough and unfortunately were on the wrong side."
“It's a learning curve for us, understanding that when you win the toss and bat in these conditions, you have to score more runs and bat much longer periods of time, as we did in the second innings,” he said.
Ireland are still in pursuit of their first Test win and will take on Sri Lanka in a two-Test series in Galle starting April 16.
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