I thought they'd bowl Pakistan out and not lose by an innings, but I always suspected they'd be rolled twice reasonably quickly and not make it to the fourth day. I guess the first day washout gives me some leeway with that, but they've done better than I expected, especially since they've had a few opportunities sail by throughout the match (ie. they've not always just been 20% behind as you see sometimes with an inferior team).Things the Irish can already be proud of
Game is in the 4th day of play
Didn't lose their first Test by an innings
Maiden hundred for one of their players
Bowled Pakistan out (more or less Pakistan declared not because they thought they had an untenable lead but because why bother with the tenth wicket when it's a rain affected game, Pakistan weren't able to rack up 400/3 which is good)
If you had asked me as a neutral if I thought Ireland would achieve most of that, I probably would have thought it was very unlikely. I think they're a solid team but Zimbabwe/Bangers/West Indies don't even reliably achieve those things.
I thought they’d probably get early wickets but I wasn’t sure they’d get consistent wickets through the innings.I thought they'd bowl Pakistan out and not lose by an innings, but I always suspected they'd be rolled twice reasonably quickly and not make it to the fourth day. I guess the first day washout gives me some leeway with that, but they've done better than I expected, especially since they've had a few opportunities sail by throughout the match (ie. they've not always just been 20% behind as you see sometimes with an inferior team).
Yeah, same pretty much. When Pak were six down it gave me hope, but god damn dropping Farheem twice before 50 hurt. At this sort of level I always viewed Shadab as more or less a batsman, but Farheem's innings was brutal.I thought they’d probably get early wickets but I wasn’t sure they’d get consistent wickets through the innings.
They needed the rub of the green to get that second innings total, although with a bit more luck they could've bowled Pakistan out for less. Clearly bowling is going to be our strength, especially at home against teams from the subcontinent.I thought they'd bowl Pakistan out and not lose by an innings, but I always suspected they'd be rolled twice reasonably quickly and not make it to the fourth day. I guess the first day washout gives me some leeway with that, but they've done better than I expected, especially since they've had a few opportunities sail by throughout the match (ie. they've not always just been 20% behind as you see sometimes with an inferior team).
I know you've pretty much given on other threads, but please post more in Ireland threads going forward. It seems you even watched the game and still didn't post :OThey needed the rub of the green to get that second innings total, although with a bit more luck they could've bowled Pakistan out for less. Clearly bowling is going to be our strength, especially at home against teams from the subcontinent.
I'm really happy with this performance whatever happens today. It's great to be a part of test cricket- means a bit more to me in practice than I expected it to.
With the departure of Misbah and Younis, current line up is shakyI have a lot of respect for the current Pakistan team, I think they’re genuinely probably above average as a Test XI if I compare it to Test teams I’ve watched in the last dozen years or so. But man, if anyone can bottle this sort of thing, it’s Pakistan.
C’arn Ireland