IF IRELAND can end their losing streak and win a Test match for the first time at the eighth attempt this week in Abu Dhabi it is perhaps inevitable that the victory should come against Afghanistan.

After meeting for the first time on the high veldt of Krugersdorp in 2009, when Eoin Morgan was still in the Ireland ranks, the two sides have played each other more than 50 times, and developed one of the biggest rivalries in the sport.

The idea of either team playing Test cricket would have been laughed off as recently as 2001 when Afghanistan had no official team and the mostly amateurs of Ireland were losing to Wales on the way to collecting the Triple Crown wooden spoon.

Fast forward 10 years and while Ireland’s golden generation were now capable of embarrassing England in the World Cup, Afghanistan’s rise was even more impressive as they won that initial encounter in South Africa and became only the second side to beat the Boys in Green in the InterContinental Cup.

William Porterfield’s team just about kept their noses in front till 2013 when they completed an unprecedented treble of T20, ODI and first-class ICC titles but since then the Afghans have had the upperhand winning an astonishing 12 T20s in succession in one sequence.

They also won the inaugural Test between the sides in 2019, easing to a seven-wicket victory at Dehradun in the northern India.

The balance may have shifted now though, with long-time scourge Muhammad Nabi not in the Test squad and the world’s best leg-spinner Rashid Khan recovering from back surgery.

Afghanistan do have the advantage of having just finished a Test in Sri Lanka - they lost by 10 wickets - while Ireland have not been in meaningful action since winning both white-ball series in Zimbabwe in December.

Skipper Andy Balbirnie, the only player to feature in all seven Ireland Tests, knows that a first win is overdue.

As is a second Test on home soil.