Afghanistan notched a historic maiden win in only its second test match when it defeated Ireland by seven wickets.
Afghanistan notched a historic maiden win in only its second test match when it defeated Ireland by seven wickets in the one-off test ending Monday. Needing 118 runs, Rahmat Shah scored his second half-century of the match and Ihsanullah Janat made 50 in his debut test as Afghanistan reached 149-3 just before lunch on the fourth day. It was a remarkable achievement for one of Test cricket's latest entrants as they became only the third nation ever in history to have tasted success in only their 2nd match in the game's most revered format.
Since the inaugural Test between arch-rivals England and Australia which was played from March 15, 1877, no country apart from Australia has managed to win their first-ever Test making the current World Champions the leader on this particular list. Apart from Afghanistan, cricket's parent country England and Pakistan are the only other teams to have won their second Test, with the British trumping the Aussies in the very next game of the first-ever Test.
Pakistan, on the other hand, found instant success after becoming an independent nation in 1952 during their maiden series against neighbours India. After losing the first match of the series, they fought back hard in the 2nd Test in Lucknow and won by an innings and 43 runs igniting a fierce sporting rivalry that would later define the game in the subcontinent.
India, who made their Test debut against England in 1932, had to wait for almost two decades in search for that elusive win when they tamed their former masters in Chennai, 1952, in what was their 25th match. Former World Champions, West Indies, though didn't have to wait this long as they won their sixth ever Test in 1930 against England - within two years of making their debut.
Indians can take solace in the fact that New Zealand also took a long time - 26 years and 45 Tests - to get their maiden victory in 1956 against West Indies. On the other hand, South Africa too had to wait for a long time - 17 years and 12 Tests - to taste their first triumph in 1906 against, you guessed it - England!
But as far as Asia is concerned, India is quite low down the pecking order when you look at southern neighbours Sri Lanka's record. The Islanders took just three years and 14 Tests to trump India in 1985 in what was their first-ever Test win. Only Bangladesh, who took 35 Tests to win their first Test lie below India on this particular list. Even though the Tigers only had to wait for 5 years since their debut in 2000 when they defeated Zimbabwe in Chittagong. The said South African nation took a total of 11 Tests and 3 years to beat the much-fancied Pakistan in 1995.
Here is a list of the all Test nations arranged in increasing order of the number of matches taken to achieve their maiden victory:
| Country | Tests | Years |
| Australia | 1 | 0 |
| England | 2 | 0 |
| Pakistan | 2 | 0 |
| Afghanistan | 2 | 1 |
| West Indies | 6 | 2 |
| Zimbabwe | 11 | 3 |
| South Africa | 12 | 17 |
| Sri Lanka | 14 | 3 |
| India | 25 | 20 |
| Bangladesh | 35 | 5 |
| New Zealand | 45 | 26 |
(With AP inputs)
