The target is – I should play Test cricket for my country. That’s my main target, to be called a Test cricketer.
This was a quote given by 18-year-old Afghanistan cricketer Rashid Khan after he stole the spotlight in his maiden Indian Premier League edition earlier this year.
Just two months later, and his dream has been a possible reality.
Afghanistan and Ireland were voted in as full ICC members on Thursday, finally attaining the right to play Tests against the world’s elite cricketing nations.
With a unanimous vote, they took the number of Test-playing nations to 12 by becoming the first countries to receive Test status since Bangladesh in 2000.
Afghanistan have had astonishing growth since attaining their associate status as late as in 2013. Just four years after receiving their ODI status, they managed to qualify for their first Cricket World Cup in 2015, and recently drew an ODI series with West Indies.
Ireland – an associate member since 1993 – has enjoyed more success in the limited-overs format, appearing in the last three World Cups and beating Pakistan and England in that time.
Here’s a look at five games where Afghanistan and Ireland upstaged the big cricket stars.
1. Ireland Beat Pakistan by 3 Wickets
Ireland won the toss of the ICC World Cup’s Group D match in 2007 and put favourites Pakistan in to bat first.
With Kamran Akmal being their highest scorer at 27 runs, Pakistan was bowled out in 45.4 overs for a dismal 132 runs.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Niall O'Brien then smashed 72 off 107 to help Ireland achieve their target in 41.4 overs and knock Pakistan out of the tournament.
Fun Fact: While this match was going on, Bangladesh beat India by 5 wickets in their opening game.
2. Ireland Beat England by 3 Wickets
Behind another massive victory for Ireland, in an another World Cup, was also an O’Brien.
In the fifteenth match of the 2011 WC, England put up a challenging 327-run total after winning the toss at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
However, Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell’s 167-run stand for the third wicket didn't materialise as Ireland managed to chase the total with 5 balls to spare and 3 wickets remaining.
Kevin O'Brien (113 off 63) smashed the fastest hundred in World Cup history – a record Glenn Maxwell broke in 2015 – to lead Ireland to their greatest victory.
3. Afghanistan Beat West Indies by 63 Runs
After making waves in the IPL, Rashid Khan was once again the star in Afghanistan’s 63-run win during their tour of West Indies in June 2017.
Defending Afghanistan’s score of 212, the 18-year-old leg-spinner finished with 7 for 18 – the fourth-best haul in ODI history – and bowled the West Indies out for 149 in just 44.4 overs.
Introduced in the 23rd over, Khan picked up wickets off his first two deliveries and also on two consecutive balls in the 25th over.
4. Ireland Beat West Indies by 4 Wickets
In their first Pool B match during the 2015 World Cup, Ireland put West Indies in to bat after winning the toss.
Courtesy Lendl Simmons’ 102 off 84, West Indies posted a challening 304 in their 50 overs. However, three half centuries – by Paul Stirling (92), Ed Joyce (84) and Niall O’Brien (79) – helped Ireland cruise to their target in 45.4 overs.
While they finished the group stage with the same amount of points as West Indies, Ireland failed to qualify for the knockout stages due to a lower run-rate.
5. Afghanistan Beat West Indies by 6 Runs
Already eliminated from the tournament after losing to Sri Lanka, South Africa and England in the Super 10 stage of the World T20 in 2016, Afghanistan took on West Indies for the first time in an international fixture in their last game.
Put in to bat, Najibullah Zadran’s unbeaten 48 helped Afghanistan put up a paltry 123-run total in their 20 overs.
However, IPL 10’s two Afghan picks Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan returned with excelled figures of 2 for 26 each and restricted table-toppers West Indies to 117 in their chase of 124.
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