Pakistan win by 3 wickets against Ireland in their last match of the World cup

In the last Group A encounter of the T20 World Cup, Pakistan defeated Ireland by three wickets on Sunday, a dead rubber since both sides were already out. Captain Babar Azam led his team through a nerve-wracking chase.

Pakistan lost against both India and the United States, who advanced to the Super Eight round, and therefore ended third in the five-team group with four points. With just one point, Ireland came in last and concluded their season without a victory.

After winning the toss, Pakistani captain Babar Azam decided to bowl. In Florida, it turned out to be the ideal choice as Shaheen Shah Afridi and Muhammadd Amir went crazy in the powerplay. They were joined in the meanwhile by Haris Rauf and Imad Wasim, the former of whom claimed a wicket and the latter three. Amir took two wickets and Shaheen scored three runs. Pakistan’s bowlers wreaked havoc on Ireland’s top order early in the contest.

With his blistering form, Shaheen Afridi ended an eight-match run without a first-over wicket. He performed a masterpiece in swing bowling, first getting Lorcan Tucker to edge one past Mohammad Rizwan and then smashing Andrew Balbirnie’s defences with a flawless inswinger.

Pakistan, chasing 107, contested a tight run-chase, reaching 111/7 in 18.5 overs. With an undefeated knock of 32* runs off of 34 balls, Babar Azam led all scorers. In the meanwhile, Shaheen Shah Afridi, who hit two sixes in the 19th over, completed an undefeated 13 runs off five balls to seal the victory for Pakistan.

Shaheen Afridi, Player of the Match. “Wicket was good for bowling, we just tried to strike early. Everyone was looking to bowl fuller, tried to hit our areas. That finish is good. We haven’t played the kind of cricket our country demands, have a few areas to improve on. Crowd always come in and support us, they’ve done some throughout the World Cup. It’s tough but thanks to the fans.”

Paul Stirling, Ireland captain: “Think so, played well I patches, start of the day didn’t go terribly well, they put pressure on us early on. Proud of the fight we’ve shown, 30 for 5 to get that score, wasn’t too far away. It’s getting that balance right. T20 we probably haven’t got that this time around. It’s been a difficult couple of weeks, go back regroup and see if we can come back stronger.”

Babar Azam, the winning captain: “Yes we finished well, we took early wickets with the ball. With the bat we didn’t finish well. Lost back to back wickets, got over the line in the end. I think with the bowling, conditions suit our bowlers, in batting few mistakes in USA, India matches, when you lose wickets pressure is on you. Let’s see, what team needs, I’ll be okay with it. Have a good bunch of players, we’ve to go home, chat and see where we lacked, and then come back. Couldn’t finish off close games, as a team we weren’t good as a team.”

Brief Scores:

Ireland: 106 for 9 in 20 overs (Gareth Delany 31, Shaheen Shah Afridi 3/22, Imad Wasim 3/8, Mohammad Amir 2/11).

Pakistan: 111 for 7 in 18.5 overs (Babar Azam 32 not out; Barry McCarthy 3/15).