Pakistan down Ireland to seal series 2-1
By our correspondent
LAHORE: Some super performances from Pakistan in both batting and bowling enabled them to seal series 2-1 when they outclassed Ireland by six wickets in their third and final T20I in Dublin on Tuesday.
Set to score 179 the Green-shirts achieved the target with 18 balls to spare after losing four wickets in the process with three last blowing away in a huddle when target was just around the corner.
After losing Saim Ayub early Babar and Rizwan did a terrific job with the bat as they shared 139 runs for the second wicket association to make the victory a bit easy.
Rizwan struck 56 off 38 balls including four fours and three sixes while Babar smashed 75 off 42 balls, hammering six fours and five sixes.
After losing both Rizwan and Babar within no time and Iftikhar Ahmed also falling early Azam Khan did well to finish it off with a ten-ball 18 not out.
Earlier, Ireland had a troubled start after opting to bat first, losing opener Ross Adair for just seven runs. However stand-in skipper Lorcan Tucker and Andy Balbirnie steadied the ship, putting together an 85-run partnership. Tucker was the top scorer with a vibrant 73 off 41 balls, driving Ireland to a competitive total of 178-7. Shaheen Shah Afridi was the pick of the Pakistani bowlers with impressive figures of 3-14.
Meanwhile the Pakistan Cricket t chairman Mohsin Naqvi congratulated the Green-shirts on the series victory over Ireland and wished them luck for the upcoming T20I series against England and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 to be hosted by the US and the West Indies in June
“Congratulations to the Pakistan Cricket team for winning the series against Ireland,” Mohsin Naqvi tweeted. “With teamwork and dedication, you have proven to be the best team in the world. “Best of luck, boys, for the England series and the World Cup,” Naqvi said on his official X.
Scores in Brief
PAKISTAN 181-4 (Babar 75, Rizwan 56, Mark Adair 3-28) beat IRELAND 178-7 (Tucker 73, Balbirnie 35, Tector 30*, Shaheen 3-14, Abbas 2-43) by six wickets.