ANDY McBRINE produced one of the best spells by an Ireland bowler in Test cricket as Bangladesh were restricted to 292-4 on an attritional first day in Mirpur.

No-one in green is ever likely to better Tim Murtagh’s 5-13 before lunch against England in 2019 but for now the off-spinner’s three wickets in the first session of the second Test probably claims the runners-up spot.

A successful lbw review saw McBrine break the opening stand in his fourth over and a skied catch to substitute fielder Barry McCarthy brought the nugget from the north-west a second.

Skipper Najmul Shanto then made the mistake of hitting the Co Tyrone man for six and looking a little too pleased with himself — the cricketing equivalent of knocking a fella’s pint over and smirking — and was bowled next ball for his troubles.

McBrine walked off for lunch with figures of 3-34 from 12 overs and could have had a fourth immediately after the break, only to see a difficult running catch spilled at mid-wicket.

He did get another after tea to finish a punishing day in the field with 4-82 and a promising debut from leg-spinner Gavin Hoey vindicated Ireland’s decision to go into the match without a frontline seamer.

The son of Conor, who won the last of his 42 caps in 1995, Hoey was preferred to McCarthy while fellow debutant Stephen Doheny came in as an extra batsman for Craig Young.

If Hoey had any nerves they didn’t show as he bustled through 19 overs for 48 runs. 

Rarely delivering a bad ball — and getting away with a couple he did — the 24-year-old was the most economical of the Ireland attack. All that was missing was a wicket.

Left-armer Matthew Humphreys was not able to produce his wicket-taking form from the first Test, either, but between them the trio offer plenty of variation and stuck to their task well, sending down 71 of the 90 overs bowled.

The day ended on a slightly sour note with Mushfiqur Rahim denied a deserved century in his 100th Test match — the first Bangladeshi to reach the milestone — by some obnoxious time-wasting from the Boys in Green.

Mushfiqur looked to have paced his knock perfectly to the delight of several thousand local fans but Ireland dawdled through the last 15 minutes, ‘discussing tactics’ between deliveries to leave the little right-hander 99 not out when stumps were pulled.

The argument was that if he wanted the century he would have to risk a big shot — and skipper Andy Balbirnie was well within his rights — but come on lads, you’re better than that!