Afghanistan beat Ireland by seven wickets to record historic Test win. (Source: Twitter/Afghanistan Cricket Board)Afghanistan became the newest ICC member to pull off a Test win after they defeated Ireland by 7 wickets on Monday to record a historic victory at their adopted home ground of Dehradun. The side led by Asghar Afghan needed to chase down a 147-run target. With Ihsanullah Janat scoring an unbeaten 65 and Rahmat Shah scoring 76, the hosts went on to win the match easily in the first session of the 4th day.
This is only the second Test Afghanistan have played since they were awarded Test status in June 2017. They last played India in the longest format in June 2018 in which they suffered a defeat by an innings and 262 runs.
It took them a year and nine months to record their first international win in red-ball cricket since being awarded the Test status. Since playing their debut Test against India, Afghanistan took just nine months to register a win in the format.
Here is a look at how long it took for other countries to win their first Test:
Australia
Test Debut: 1877
Maiden Test win: 1877
No. of Tests taken: 1
Australia made their Test debut against England on March 15, 1877. The Aussies pulled off a win in their first game by 45 runs. Till now, no other nation has won their first-ever Test.
England
Test Debut: 1877
Maiden Test win: 1877
No. of Tests taken: 2
England made their Test debut against Australia on March 15, 1877. They suffered a defeat in the match by 45 runs. But they registered their maiden win in the format in their next game, which started from March 31, 1877.
South Africa
Test Debut: 1889
Maiden Test win: 1906
No. of Tests taken: 12
South Africa took 17 years to record their maiden Test win since making their debut in 1889 against England. After not being able to win any games in four series against England and one series against Australia, the Proteas finally won the first Test against the Three Lions in January, 1906 by one wicket. They eventually won the series 4-1, their first ever in history.
West Indies
Test Debut: 1928
Maiden Test win: 1930
No. of Tests taken: 6
West Indies played their first Test series in 1928 in which they were thrashed 3-0 by England. In February 1930, in the 3rd Test against England, Windies registered their first ever win in the format by 289 runs.
New Zealand
Test Debut: 1930
Maiden Test win: 1956
No. of Tests taken: 45
The Kiwis made their Test debut in a 4-match Test series against England in 1930, which they lost by 1-0. But the side had to wait 26 long years to record their first win, which came in March 1956 against West Indies.
India
Test Debut: 1932
Maiden Test win: 1952
No. of Tests taken: 25
India started their Test campaign in 1932 against England. It took them 20 years to pull of their first win, which came off against the same opposition in Chennai in February 1952.
Pakistan
Test Debut: 1952
Maiden Test win: 1952
No. of Tests taken: 2
Pakistan made their international debut in red ball cricket in 1952 in a series against India. After losing the first Test, the side won the second match in Lucknow on October 26 by an innings and 43 runs, in the same series.
Sri Lanka
Test Debut: 1982
Maiden Test win: 1985
No. of Tests taken: 14
Sri Lanka made their debut in the longest format in February 1982 against England. The Asian nation had to wait three years for their first win, which came off against India in September 1985.
Zimbabwe
Test Debut: 1992
Maiden Test win: 1995
No. of Tests taken: 11
Zimbabwe made their debut in the format in 1992 against India. The African nation won their first Test in January 1995 against Pakistan by 64 runs.
Bangladesh
Test Debut: 2000
Maiden Test win: 2005
No. of Tests taken: 35
Bangladesh took five years to win their first Test after making their debut in 2000 against India. The victory came off in January 2005 against Zimbabwe, who were defeated by 226 runs at Chittagong.
* Maiden win for Afghanistan in each format
ODI: 89 runs vs Scotland, Benoni, April 2009 (ODI #1)
T20I: Five wickets vs Canada, Colombo SSC, Feb 2010 (T20I #2)
Test: Seven wickets vs Ireland, Dehradun, March 2019 (Test #2)
