DUBLIN (AP) — Pakistan defeated Ireland by six wickets on Tuesday to win the Twenty20 series 2-1.
The Pakistanis leveled the series on Sunday with 193 with 3.1 overs to spare, and on Tuesday they had no trouble overhauling Ireland’s 178 with three overs remaining.
Captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan smashed a home bowling of 139 runs in the second wicket stand.
Babar scored 75 off 42 balls and Rizwan scored 56 off 38 balls and was on the verge of victory when he was defeated in consecutive overs.
Azam Khan’s consecutive sixes took them from 181-4 to 178-7.
“This will be good practice as we have big tournaments coming up,” Babar said ahead of next month’s T20 World Cup.
Rizwan showed little strike in the first three overs but opened up after losing his opening partner Saim Ayub. Rizwan hit three sixes and four boundaries.
Babar hit four sixes in Ben White’s first over (14th) and finished with five maximums and six boundaries.
His 39th fifty-plus score broke Virat Kohli’s record in the T20s.
Ireland surpassed Sunday’s total midway through the inning and looked to be in good shape.
Captain Lorcan Tucker and opener Andy Balbirnie put on 85 runs for the second wicket. Balbirnie achieved 35.
Tucker hit 73 off 41 with 13 boundaries, but when he was caught at deep extra cover, Ireland folded in the face of outstanding death bowling.
Shaheen Shah Afridi contributed financially with 3 wins and 14 losses in four overs, Mohammad Amir with 1 win and 32 losses and Imad Wasim with 1 win and 23 losses.
Pakistan will travel to England for a four-match T20 series starting Tuesday.
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AP Cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
