Bangladesh vs Ireland 2022-23

One-day internationals (3): Bangladesh 2, Ireland 0
Twenty20 internationals (3): Bangladesh 2, Ireland 1
Test match (1): Bangladesh 1, Ireland 0

Ireland managed just one win in seven games on their first bilateral tour of Bangladesh since a one-day series 15 years earlier, but at least gained valuable experience of alien conditions. They were shorn of first-choice pace bowlers: Josh Little was at the IPL, Barry McCarthy pulled out with a bad knee, and Craig Young was injured after one game. At various points, they also rested their captain, Andrew Balbirnie, and vice-captain Paul Stirling.

That meant opportunities for the next cabs off the rank. In all, 20 players travelled, including former Zimbabwean international P. J. Moor, an Irish passport-holder who became the 17th man to play Test cricket for two countries.

Bangladesh had just whitewashed England in a T20 series, and were full of confidence. They broke records in each of the three one-day internationals, registering their highest total in both the first two, and completing their first ten-wicket win (and Ireland's first ten-wicket defeat) in the third.

Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim both passed 7,000 ODI runs. Mushfiqur, debutant Towhid Hridoy and Liton Das all topped 140 runs in the series, whereas Ireland's highest aggregate was 52 (in two innings) by Curtis Campher. Seamer Graham Hume was a rare positive for the tourists, finishing as the leading wicket-taker on either side, with seven.

Balbirnie sat out the three T20s, but Stirling led the way to their sole victory, in the third game of a rain-interrupted week in Chittagong. Taskin Ahmed was the star performer, with eight wickets. Rony Talukdar, who had been recalled against England after nearly eight years' absence, confirmed his position as Bangladesh opener with 125 runs, surpassed only by Liton's 135, at a strike-rate of 198.

The Test in Mirpur was Ireland's first since their topsy-turvy match at Lord's in July 2019. They went in without Stirling, their leading run-scorer across all formats, who spent the week on holiday in Vietnam - part of a squad-rotation policy ahead of a busy, mainly white-ball, summer. Balbirnie's own rest did him little good. He scored just 19 runs in the game, as Ireland's top order struggled twice.

The team's comeback on the third day, when Lorcan Tucker followed Kevin O'Brien into the record books as Ireland's second Test centurion, was arguably the highlight of the tour. But the Bangladeshis' greater experience told: a tenth century for Mushfiqur, and nine wickets for left-arm spinner Taijul Islam, helped them secure their first victory in ten Tests.