Florida [USA], Shaheen Afridi, with his swing balls and late slog, led Pakistan to a three-wicket win in their final Group A game against Ireland at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium turf ground here.
It was a tough chase for Pakistan as they faced a lot of difficulties which almost derailed their chase before they reached their destination.
While the neutrals enjoyed the thrilling clash between the two sides, the fans of both the teams were on the edge of their seats watching the game full of ups and downs.
Chasing the modest score of 107 runs, Pakistan were given a solid start by the opening pair of Saim Ayub and Mohammad Rizwan.
Almost having a run-a-ball till the fourth over, Ayub (17) tried to accelerate by hitting it over square leg. He got a top edge, which fell safely into the hands of Lorcan Tucker.Rizwan (17) followed in the footsteps of his compatriot in the final over of the powerplay. The middle order of Fakhar Zaman (5), Usman Khan (2), Shadab Khan (0) and Imad Wasim (4) collapsed like a house of cards.
Barry McCarthy performed brilliantly, taking two wickets and ensuring that Pakistan lost four wickets by adding only 10 runs.
Ireland reduced Pakistan from 52/2 to 62/6 and moved closer to an unexpected victory. Abbas Afridi and captain Babar Azam made a partnership of 33 runs to give victory to Pakistan.
When 12 runs were needed off 15 balls, Abbas went for the glory shot but ultimately failed to cross the boundary.
Shaheen Afridi came on and pushed the ball into the stands twice to give last year's finalists a three-wicket win.Earlier in the innings, after putting Ireland in to bat, Shaheen Afridi got Ireland off the ground early with his swing balls.
Mohammad Amir was the ideal compatriot and he also struck at the other end. The Irish team was reduced to 32/6.
Gareth Delany (31) and Joshua Little (22*) made valuable contributions to take Ireland's score to 106/9. Brief scores: Ireland 106/9 (Gareth Delany 31; Shaheen Afridi 3-22, Mohammad Amir 2-11) vs Pakistan 111/7 (Babar Azam 32*, Shaheen Afridi 13*; Barry McCarthy 3-15, Curtis Campher 2- 24).
It was a tough chase for Pakistan as they faced a lot of difficulties which almost derailed their chase before they reached their destination.
While the neutrals enjoyed the thrilling clash between the two sides, the fans of both the teams were on the edge of their seats watching the game full of ups and downs.
Chasing the modest score of 107 runs, Pakistan were given a solid start by the opening pair of Saim Ayub and Mohammad Rizwan.
Almost having a run-a-ball till the fourth over, Ayub (17) tried to accelerate by hitting it over square leg. He got a top edge, which fell safely into the hands of Lorcan Tucker.Rizwan (17) followed in the footsteps of his compatriot in the final over of the powerplay. The middle order of Fakhar Zaman (5), Usman Khan (2), Shadab Khan (0) and Imad Wasim (4) collapsed like a house of cards.
Barry McCarthy performed brilliantly, taking two wickets and ensuring that Pakistan lost four wickets by adding only 10 runs.
Ireland reduced Pakistan from 52/2 to 62/6 and moved closer to an unexpected victory. Abbas Afridi and captain Babar Azam made a partnership of 33 runs to give victory to Pakistan.
When 12 runs were needed off 15 balls, Abbas went for the glory shot but ultimately failed to cross the boundary.
Shaheen Afridi came on and pushed the ball into the stands twice to give last year's finalists a three-wicket win.Earlier in the innings, after putting Ireland in to bat, Shaheen Afridi got Ireland off the ground early with his swing balls.
Mohammad Amir was the ideal compatriot and he also struck at the other end. The Irish team was reduced to 32/6.
Gareth Delany (31) and Joshua Little (22*) made valuable contributions to take Ireland's score to 106/9. Brief scores: Ireland 106/9 (Gareth Delany 31; Shaheen Afridi 3-22, Mohammad Amir 2-11) vs Pakistan 111/7 (Babar Azam 32*, Shaheen Afridi 13*; Barry McCarthy 3-15, Curtis Campher 2- 24).
