Afghanistan and Ireland in Tests-2

More highlights from their short Test history:

Fielding:

Most dismissals (3 and above):

The most by a non-keeper is 4 by Stirling.

Most innings dismissals (3 and above):

Most match dismissals (3 and above):

Wilson has the most dismissals here, while the best by non-keepers are 3 by Strling and I. Zadran.

All-round performances:

Overall (see criteria):

These two players have made an encouraging start.

Match performance (50 and 5wi):

Only one instance here, but it is the relatively rare combination of a fifty and 10 wickets. This has been achieved 29 times in all Tests.

Rashid is only the third Test caption to achieve this:

He is in august company, though it may be a while before he becomes PM of his country.

 

Afghanistan and Ireland in Tests-1

Afghanistan and Ireland have each played 3 Tests, including one between themselves. Here is the record of these matches:

Afghanistan have made rapid progress, starting with a two-day defeat in their first Test followed by two wins, the latest against the higher-rated Bangladesh. Ireland have lost all three Tests, putting up a good fight in the first two but abjectly collapsing to 38 all out in the third. They did however dismiss England for 85 in that Test.

We now look at individual performances, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (100 and above):

Rahmat Shah, KJ O’Brien and Asghar Afghan (former Stanikzai) have the most runs. The only centuries are by Rahmat and O’Brien, the latter on debut. Rahmat and Asghar have 3 scores of 50+.

At the other end of the scale, Murtagh became the first No 11 batsman in any Test to score 25+ in each innings during Ireland’s second Test.

Highest innings (75 and above):

Bowling:

Most wickets (8 and above):

Rashid Khan has by far the best total here. He has 3 fivers and the only tenner here. Murtagh is the only other with a fiver.

Best innings bowling (4wi or more):

Note Rashid’s two fivers in the same match, while Murtagh’s 2018 figure is the best on debut from either side. Murtagh also became the first Irish player to appear on the Lord’s honours board.

Best match bowling (6wi and above):

Rashid Khan has the two best performances here.

To be continued

 

 

More tailend heroics-1

The best scores while batting at numbers 9, 10 and 11:

At No 9: (75 and above):

At No 10 (60 and above):

At No 11 (50 and above):

More than 25 in each innings at No 11:

This table is for those with 2 innings and over 50 runs. It can be seen that only TJ Murtagh has scored 25+ in each innings.

Finally, those who have scored a fifty in each innings at 9 to 11:

It can be verified that both of them scored 50+ in both innings at No 9.

 

High scores at No 11

On the opening day of the first Afghanistan – Ireland Test at the new Test venue Dehradun, Ireland’s last pair of GH Dockrell and TJ Murtagh took Ireland from 85/9 to 172. They contributed 39 (No 8) and 54* (No 11) respectively.

First we look at :

High Scores at No 11:

Only 19 such instances. Murtagh is 11th in this list.

He also figures in this list in Cricinfo’s records section:

When No 11 was top scorer of the innings:

There have been only 11 such instances, 6 of them after 2000.

Murtagh has the third highest score here, after Agar and Vogler.

The partnership which lasted from 85/9 to 172 is one of the few instances where a team’s score was doubled after the 9th wicket fell.

There are only 5 such instances, and 4 of them were after 2010. More about this later.

We also add a table of the Highest 10th-wicket partnerships (85 and above):

Dockrell and Murtagh just manage to enter here.

The highest partnership involving No 10 and 11 appears to be the 128 by Higgs (63) and Snow (59*) in 1966.

A summary of India-Ireland cricket

Here is the short, short history of T20Is between India and Ireland:

The match in England in 2009 was during the T20 World Chapionship.

And here is the equally short history of ODIs between these teams:

The 2011 and 2015 matches were in the course of the World Cups.

Apart from these matches, India played South Africa in a bilateral series called the Future Cup in 2007, winning 2-1:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/series/index.html?season=2007;view=season

A quick look at T20I records between these teams:

Highest innings:

Best innings bowling:

Best innings fielding:

Allround performance: 20 runs and 2 wickets in a match:

No instances.

India has visited Ireland a number of times in the past, as the usual practice has been to tag on short visits to Ireland whenever there is a major tour of England. Most of these matches have been one or two day matches which have neither List A nor first-class status.

India’s maiden tour of England in 1932 seems to have included matches against almost all the counties as well as other teams, but did not include a visit to Ireland.

However, India did play one first-class match against Ireland in 1936. The scorecard is worth recalling as it captures the essence of that tour:

http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1930S/1936/IND_IN_ENG/IND_IRELAND_09-11JUL1936.html

Points to note:

Vizzy captained in this match and made his customary single digit score.

Lala Amarnath did not play.

India won by 10 wickets, thanks mainly to CK Nayudu (7wi and 10wm) and Merchant (71*).

 

 

 

 

 

More on Ireland’s maiden Test

Ultimately Ireland lost against Pakistan, but they performed better than most other Test teams on their maiden appearance. But then, the team had considerable international experience before they played in the Test.

We all know that B Rankin had played one Test for England. He has also played in ODIs and T20Is for England and Ireland.

Similarly EC Joyce has played in ODIs and T20Is for England and Ireland.

All 11 members of the team had played T20Is earlier. T Kane is the only one who had not played in an ODI.

Another potential player was Eoin Morgan who played 16 Tests for England with two centuries, besides ODIs for England and Ireland and T20Is for England. He could well have played here, but appears to prefer his present position as England’s ODI captain.

Probably Afghanistan’s Test team will have a similar bank of experience, except that they would never have played an international match in their home country.

Previous encounters between Ireland and Pakistan

As the first Test between Ireland and Pakistan gets under way, we look at how they have fared in the shorter formats.

ODIs between Ireland and Pakistan:

There have been other 50-over matches between these teams before Ireland got ODI status, but those details are not readily available. Those matches were generally part of Pakistan’s Test tours of England.

We see that 7 ODIs between these teams have been completed. Pakistan lead 5-1 with 1 tie. However it is their first encounter which is remembered, when Ireland’s “beginner’s luck” at the 2007 World Cup played a large part in Pakistan’s early departure. (Similarly Bangladesh spoiled India’s party in the same World Cup).

The scorecard of that first match: http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/8039/scorecard/247465/ireland-vs-pakistan-9th-match,-group-d-world-cup-2006-07/

A few members of Ireland’s team on that occasion will be playing in the inaugural Test starting on May 11.

Only one T20I has been played between these teams, which was at the 2009 T20 World Championships. Ireland had got into the Super 8s essentially by defeating Bangladesh. Pakistan won by a large margin. Pakistan went on to win the championship, while defending champion India did not reach the semi-finals.

Again, a few members of that Irish team are playing in today’s Test.

Scorecard of that match:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/8604/scorecard/356012/ireland-vs-pakistan-21st-match,-group-f-world-t20-2009/