Pakistan survive scare to defeat Ireland by three wickets

Pakistan defeated Ireland by three wickets in their last match of the T20 World Cup 2024 which is being played at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida on Sunday. 

The low-scoring encounter was decided in the last over with Shaheen Afridi taking Pakistan over the line and helping them end their disappointing World Cup campaign with a six.

Chasing the 107-run target, Pakistan, despite a decent start, made things difficult for them as they kept on losing wickets. Saim Ayub (17 off 17), and Mohammad Rizwan (17 off 16) lost their wickets inside the first six overs.

Abbas Afridi gave Pakistan a breakthrough as he hit a six and a four during his 17-run innings which helped Babar Azam’s side come close to the target.

Skipper Babar Azam top-scored for the winning side with 32 runs.

Earlier,  Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first. Babar Azam's side made one change in their playing XI from the previous match against Canada with Abbas Afridi replacing Naseem Shah. Meanwhile, Ireland brought in Ben White for Craig Young.

Pakistan restricted Ireland to 106/9 while bowling first.  A dominating display by the Pakistani bowlers made things difficult for the Irish side as Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Amir, and Imad Wasim all starred with the ball.

 Shaheen started the innings for Pakistan brilliantly as he removed Andrew Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker in the first over, leaving Ireland 2-2.

  Amir continued what Shaheen started and sent Irish skipper Paul Stirling back to the pavilion for just one run.

Pakistani bowlers continued their dominance and kept sending the opponents’ batters back to the pavilion. It looked like Ireland would be all out before even scoring 60 runs as a team but George Dockrell and Gareth Delany’s 44-run partnership helped them reach a decent total.

 Delany top-scored for the struggling Irish side with his quick 19-ball 31 which included four boundaries. Joshua Little's contributed 22 runs on 18 balls with three boundaries.

 Ireland concluded their innings at 106/9 in 20 overs. For Pakistan, Shaheen and Imad bagged three wickets each, Amir got two while Haris Rauf managed to remove one Irish batter.