IRELAND restricted Pakistan to 268-6, as they made an encouraging start to life in Test cricket at Malahide.

The sun shone after the day-one washout and Boyd Rankin took Ireland’s first Test wicket before Tim Murtagh struck to leave Pakistan 13-2.

The tourists recovered but Asad Shafiq (62) was one of four wickets to fall after lunch to leave Pakistan 159-6.

Shadab Khan (52) and Faheem Ashraf (61) put on an unbroken 109-run partnership before bad light ended play.

Pakistan, sent in to bat by Ireland captain William Porterfield, lost two wickets in successive balls on a pitch offering some sideways movement.

Rankin, the 15th man ever, and the first since Kepler Wessels (Australia and South Africa) 25 years ago, to play Test cricket for two nations after making a lone appearance for England in 2014, saw an uncertain Azhar Ali (four) edge to Porterfield at second slip.

Barely had the crowd’s cheers subsided when Pakistan were 13-2 off the very next ball with Imam ul-Haq, who was injured in a collision in the game’s first ball, lbw for seven, to a Murtagh delivery that came back into him.

After a few near run-outs, Pakistan’s third-wicket duo settled in – Shafiq square-cut Kane for four, with left-hander Haris Sohail glancing Stuart Thompson for a leg-side boundary.

Pakistan, 67-2 at lunch, lost their third wicket soon afterwards when Haris (31) was caught in the gully by Porterfield off Thompson.

Babar Azam (14), pushing hard at a Murtagh delivery that left him off the pitch, was well-held by Paul Stirling at second slip.

Shafiq went on to complete a 107-ball fifty when he pulled Rankin for a single.

But with the towering Rankin, bowling from around the wicket, a similar shot proved Shafiq’s undoing when he found Andrew Balbirnie at square leg.

And when Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed (20) was caught by Stirling in the slips off Thompson, the tourists were struggling at 159-6.

But Shadab and Faheem turned the tide in style with maiden Test fifties at the County Dublin venue.

Faheem, however, did have a break when, on 36, he edged Rankin only for a diving Niall O’Brien to miss the catch and give the obscured Gary Wilson at first slip no chance of taking the ball.

Duly reprieved, he went to fifty in just 52 balls, including seven fours, with Shadab following him to the landmark in 89 balls.

When Stirling came on, a well-set Faheem launched the part-time spinner over long-on for six.

Bad light saw the players leave the field late in the afternoon and after a thunderclap and a heavy downpour 20 minutes later, play was abandoned for the day. (BBC Sport)

PAKISTAN 1st innings
A. Ali c Porterfield b Rankin 4
Imam ul-Haq lbw Murtagh 7
H. Sohail c Porterfield b Thompson 31
A. Shafiq c Balbirnie b Rankin 62
B. Azam c Stirling b Murtagh 14
S. Ahmed c Stirling b Thompson 20
Shadab Khan not out 52
Faheem Ashraf not out 61
Extras: (b-1, lb-10, nb-4, w-2) 17
Total: (76.0 overs) 268-6
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-13, 3-71, 4-104, 5-153, 6-159.
Bowling: Tim Murtagh 17-4-33-2, Boyd Rankin 17-3-58-2 (nb-1), Tyrone Kane 18-2-84-0 (nb-1), Stuart Thompson 16-2-51-2 (w-1, nb-2), Kevin O’Brien 6-1-20-0 (w-1), Paul Stirling 2-0-11-0.