Afghanistan take upperhand against Ireland

Dehradun: Rahmat Shah fell just two short of his maiden century as Afghanistan produced a commanding batting display to take the upperhand over Ireland on the second day of the one-off Test here Saturday.
Coming on to bat at no.3, Shah scored a patient 98 off 214 balls while Asghar Afghan (67) and Hashmatullah Shahidi (61) hit their maiden half-centuries to propel the ‘home team’ to 314 all out in 106.3 overs in reply to Ireland’s paltry first innings score of 172. At stumps on the second day, Ireland were 21 for one in 12 overs.
The Irish still trail Afghanistan by 120 runs. Resuming at an overnight score of 90 for two, Shah and Shahidi shared 130 runs for the third wicket to set the platform for a 300-plus total.
Shah struck 15 boundaries during his knock while Shahidi hit six boundaries. Skipper Afghan’s 67 came off 92 balls with the help of six boundaries and four hits over the fence. It is Rahmat’s role to provide Afghanistan the base from where the other batsmen can attack. How much they had adapted since a slapdash display in their inaugural Test against India showed in how Mohammad Shahzad, who loves hitting sixes, took 19 balls to get off the mark. Shahzad, though, couldn’t convert his start into a big knock and got out trying to attack.When Afghanistan started day two, 90 for 2 in response to Ireland’s 172, they knew this was the day to do all the scoring. Medium-pacer Stuart Thompson (3/28) was the pick of the bowlers for Ireland, while George Dockrell (2/63), Andy McBrine (2/77) and James Cameron-Dow (2/94) scalped two wickets apiece.
Brief Scores: Ireland: 172 all out and 22 for 1 in 12 overs. Afghanistan: 314 all out in 106.3 overs (Rahmat Shah 98, Asghar Afghan 67, Hashmatullah Shahidi 61; Stuart Thompson 3/28). (PTI)