DUBLIN:Ireland´s inaugural men´s Test got off to a dramatic start onSaturday when Pakistan debutant Imam-ul-Haq was injured on the first ball.
Azhar Ali dug out a single off the opening delivery from Tim Murtagh andcalled for a quick legside single.
Non-striker Imam, in scrambling to complete the run, found himselfsandwiched between wicket-keeper Niall O´Brien and Tyrone Kane in a heavycollision.
The 22-year-old left-hander was left flat on the ground and needed severalminutes´ treatment on the field.
But he recovered and faced his first ball, the second of the match, fromMurtagh with Imam, who had had a cold press applied to the back of hisneck, playing and missing before he saw out the remainder of the over at asunny Malahide.
Imam is the nephew of Pakistan selection chief and former Test batsmanInzamam-ul-Haq and his inclusion in the squad provoked allegations ofnepotism.
But Imam, who hit a hundred on his one-day international debut against SriLanka last year, made fifties against both Kent and Northamptonshire inPakistan´s two warm-up matches.
Rain washed out the whole of Friday´s scheduled first day but a day latergrey clouds had been replaced by sunny blue skies as Ireland, from themoment of the toss, officially became the 11th nation to play men´s Testcricket.
The coin fell in favour of Ireland captain William Porterfield and heelected to field in this one-off match, with the teams lining up fornational anthems before play started at 11:00am local time (1000 GMT). -APP/AFP