Pakistan vs Ireland Only Test Day 3 Live Match Streaming

                    
Tim Murtagh looked every inch the experienced pro at the top of his mark. Fit and trim, it was clear that this was a man who had delivered tens of thousands of balls in first-class cricket. His robot run-up is that of a man who had been coached to be the most efficient bowler he can be. And then at the crease he delivered medium-fast pace, the first ball, floated away from the bat on a yorker length. Azhar Ali seemed shocked by the full length and just clamped down on it, getting enough to squirt it to the onside.

Then madness. Imam-ul-Haq, who was yet to face a ball in Test cricket, took off on a run that never seemed necessary, or safe. It was the wild panic run of a debutant. And against one of the best-drilled fielding teams in world cricket. Two Irish players - Niall O'Brien from behind the stumps and Tyrone Kane from square leg - flew in with intent for the run-out. And somehow, because of the ball placement and Imam's running, all three found themselves occupying the same space. Imam's head and neck became the sandwich between Kane's torso and O'Brien's hip.

It was a crazy run; it ended up with a near-loss of consciousness for the man who called it. And yet by the end of it, Ireland were the composed ones, and Pakistan looked like the team of debutants.

For the best part of the next eight overs, nothing happened other than Pakistani batsmen trying to run themselves - or knock themselves - out. And then, in the space of eight balls, Ireland suddenly looked like a Test team.

Up until that point, they looked like a well-disciplined first-class side, and so they should, as they have 1254 first-class caps to Pakistan's 816. This is an old new side. Murtagh's mechanical mediums and Boyd Rankin's decent pace looked okay, but there was no real explosion. It was polite.

But then for eight balls it looked different. Rankin's angle into the body upset Azhar, and from the very next delivery, Murtagh got one to straighten on Imam. For the team hat-trick delivery, Haris Sohail found himself standing mid-pitch, pondering philosophical issues when he should have been worried about Stuart Thompson running around and firing the ball at the stumps. A few deliveries later, Asad Shafiq edged just short of slip. And the first ball of Tyrone Kane's debut over was a no-ball, but Pakistan still threatened to contrive a run-out from it.