Andso to the Tolerance Oval, with history in the air, for the closing stages of Afghanistan v Ireland. Welcome to Test cricket’s newest plot of land – considered one of Abu Dhabi’s very best alternatives for those occasions when, say, you need to move a Test match because a local school has booked the main pitch for its sports day. The Tolerance claims to hold up to 12,000 fans, but let’s not dwell on that.
Ireland are four down and almost there. It’s still turning – they were 13-3 at one stage, still 98 shy – but Andy Balbirnie is dead-batting his way down the last. Afghanistan’s brilliant teenage quick, Naveed Zadran, has blown out, Ziaur-Rehman’s very tidy left-arm slows have been blunted, and Niall O’Brien has long since lost it in the commentary box. The cricket is ragged, nervy, mildly eccentric and totally great.