Eire’s Kevin O’ Brien celebrates after his maiden Check century towards Pakistan (symbol: ICC/Twitter)
Dublin: Eire have an out of doors likelihood of successful their inaugural Check after Kevin O’Brien led a second-innings restoration with an unbeaten century to steer Pakistan by means of 139 runs on Monday heading into the overall day.Hours previous at the fourth day, the Irish have been dealing with the chance of an innings defeat however they misplaced handiest 3 wickets within the ultimate two classes to succeed in stumps on 319-7 following on.
Even a draw could be a wonderful success for a rustic which was once awarded Check standing handiest remaining June.
O’Brien changed into the primary participant to attain a Check century for Eire and he was once there on the shut on 118 now not out, along with his 114-run partnership with Stuart Thompson (53) for the 7th wicket proving decisive. Tyrone Kane was once with O’Brien on eight now not out.
Mohammed Amir shrugged off a nagging knee downside to be the pick out of the bowlers, completing the day with figures of 3-57 as he reached 100 Check wickets. The left-arm paceman’s turbulent Check profession was once interrupted by means of a prison sentence by means of an English court docket and a five-year ban by means of the ICC for his involvement in a spot-fixing scandal in 2010.
Resuming their moment innings on 64 with out loss after being requested to practice on and nonetheless wanting 116 extra runs to make Pakistan bat once more, Eire slumped to 123-Four by means of lunch. When Amir got rid of Gary Wilson (12), stuck by means of Haris Sohail within the slips, and Paul Stirling (11) was once trapped lbw by means of Mohammad Abbas, Pakistan was once with regards to clinching victory.
O’Brien’s circumspect batting — his 118 has come from 216 balls and contained 12 fours — has ensured Eire keep alive at Malahide.
Pakistan declared their first innings on 310-Nine early on Day Three after the primary day was once washed out.
First Printed: Might 15, 2018, 6:50 AM IST
