It was a historic day for Ireland cricket as Kevin O Brien unbeaten century has helped the hosts to stage a remarkable comeback on the 4th day of one-off test match played at Malahide, Dublin just finished a few moments ago.
Starting on the overnight score of 64 for 0, Ireland lost the early wicket of Ed Joyce with a brilliant run out by Faheem Ashraf for 43. The hosts suffered the loss of Balbirnie for 0 runs. The Pakistani bowlers showed skills with the ball and picked 2 more wickets of NJ O Brien, captain William Porterfield. Paul Stirling and Kevin O Brien batted well. Ireland went into lunch at the score of 123 for 4.
After the lunch break, Paul Stirling was dismissed for 11 runs. Kevin O Brien reached his half-century off 100 balls. Ireland lost the 6th wicket of Gary Wilson at the score of 157. Kevin O Brien and Thompson steadied the innings with solid batting by both batsmen. Ireland kept fighting with both of them looking good, ended the 2nd session at 212 for 6.
In the third and final session, Thompson and Kevin O Brien continued their fightback making sure they fight against a top quality Pakistan bowling attack. Thompson reached his half-century off 103 balls and was soon out for 53 runs. Both Thompson and Kevin O Brien added 114 runs for the 7th wicket.
Kevin O Brien became the first Irish Cricketer to score a century in test cricket off 186 balls. Kane is giving him full support. Both Kane and Kevin O Brien have added 48 unbeaten runs for the 8th wicket. Ireland ended day 4 on 319 for 7 with an overall lead of 139 runs.
Ireland 319 for 7 in 122 overs (Kevin O Brien 118*, Thompson 53, Mohammad Aamir 3/57, Mohammad Abbas 2/54) and 130 in 47.2 overs (Kevin O Brien 40, Gary Wilson 33*, Mohammad Abbas 4/44, Shadab Khan 3/31, Mohammad Aamir 2/9) lead
Pakistan 310 for 9d in 96 overs (Faheem Ashraf 83, Asad Shafiq 62, Shadab Khan 55, Tim Murtagh 4/45, Thompson 3/62) by 139 runs