Ireland score maiden victory against Pakistan in first T20I

DUBLIN (Agencies): Ireland clinched their maiden T20I victory against Pakistan as they beat the Green Shirts in the opener of the three-match series at the Clontarf Cricket Club, Dublin, on Friday. The hosts stunned the Green Shirts by five wickets in was a historic win as this was the first time the Irish hosted Pakistan in T20Is.  Despite a brilliant start while defending the 183-run target as Pakistan managed to get two wickets in the first five overs with Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi striking for them, the Green Shirts couldn’t stand against Andrew Balbirnie and Harry Tector. Both the Irish batters stood tall against Pakistan’s bowling attack and formed a formidable 77-run partnership which brought the home team back in the game after a disastrous start. Tector departed after scoring 36 runs but Balbirnie stood tall and continued to score for his side. George Dockrell brought the much-needed energy to Ireland’s innings as he scored 24 runs on 12 balls with four boundaries, which turned out to be the turning point of the match. Shaheen bagged two wickets while Abbas Afridi, Imad Wasim and Naseem Shah picked one wicket each. Pakistan got a major breakthrough when Shaheen removed Balbirnie but Gareth Delany (10 on 6) and Curtis Campher (15 on 7) cruised the home side to victory.

Earlier, batting first, Pakistan posted 182-6 as skipper Babar Azam starred with 57 off 43 balls while Saim Ayub made 29-ball 45. Iftikhar Ahmed chipped in with 15-ball 37 not out. The Men in Green lost Mohammad Rizwan (1) early in the innings. Babar paired with Saim to provide stability to the innings with an 85-run stand. Saim was caught by Campher off the bowling of Delany after scoring 45 runs off 29 balls, including four boundaries and three sixes. Meanwhile, Babar crossed fifty for the 38th time in T20Is. He was caught by Mark Adair off the bowling of Craig Young, scoring 57 runs from 43 deliveries. Pakistan struggled for a bit where they lost four wickets for 31 runs but Iftikhar covered the runs at the backend. He smoked 15-ball 37, powered by three fours and as many sixes. Shaheen Shah Afridi also remained unbeaten, scoring 13 runs from 7 deliveries, hitting two sixes, with a strike rate of 185.71.

SCOREBOARD

PAKISTAN INNINGS

Saim Ayub c Campher b Delany        45

Mohammad Rizwan run out     1

Babar Azam c Adair b Young   57

Fakhar Zaman c McCarthy b Adair    20

Azam Khan c White b Young   0

Shadab Khan run out      0

Iftikhar Ahmed not out   37

Shaheen Shah Afridi not out     14

Did not bat: Imad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Abbas Afridi

EXTRAS (B 1, LB 2, W 5)      8

TOTAL (20 overs)         182-6

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-7 (Mohammad Rizwan, 1.5 ov), 2-92 (Saim Ayub, 11.2 ov), 3-116 (Babar Azam, 14.3 ov), 4-116 (Azam Khan, 14.5 ov), 5-123 (Shadab Khan, 15.2 ov), 6-150 (Fakhar Zaman, 17.5 ov)

BOWLING

Mark Adair 4-0-40-1

Barry McCarthy    4-0-39-0

Craig Young         4-0-27-2

Curtis Campher    3-0-30-0

Ben White   3-0-32-0

Gareth Delany      2-0-11-1

IRELAND INNINGS

Andy Balbirnie b Shaheen        77

Paul Stirling c Babar b Naseem 8

Lorcan Tucker c Fakhar b Abbas        4

Harry Tector c Shaheen b Imad 36

George Dockrell c Fakhar b Abbas     24

Gareth Delany not out     10

Curtis Campher not out   15

Did not bat: Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Craig Young, Ben White

EXTRAS (LB 2, W 7)    9

TOTAL (19.5 overs)      183-5

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-14 (Paul Stirling, 1.5 ov), 2-27 (Lorcan Tucker, 4.1 ov), 3-104 (Harry Tector, 12.5 ov), 4-143 (George Dockrell, 16.1 ov), 5-167 (Andy Balbirnie, 18.4 ov)

BOWLING

Shaheen Shah Afridi       4-0-26-1

Naseem Shah        4-0-37-1

Imad Wasim          4-0-28-1

Abbas Afridi         3.5-0-36-2

Shadab Khan        4-0-54-0

Umpires: Jonathan Kennedy, Mark Hawthorne

TV umpire: Roly Black

Match referee: Graham McCrea