Pakistan defeated Ireland by three wickets to end their T20 World Cup campaign on a winning note.
With neither team progressing to the Super Eight stage from Group A, Pakistan started well, restricting Ireland to 32-6 but efforts from Gareth Delaney and Josh Little saw them bounce back to finish on 106-9.
A collapse in Pakistan’s batting line-up gave Ireland a glimmer of hope, but Shaheen Shah Afridi hit two huge sixes in the penultimate over to seal the victory.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam scored 32 runs without conceding to help his team to victory.
Afridi earlier took 3-22, cutting Andy Balbirnie over the top of his off-stump with the third ball of the match to take three wickets in the first two overs to give Pakistan a perfect start.
The paceman got his second in the next over, two balls after Lorcan Tucker edged backwards to catch Harry Tector lbw, during which Paul Stirling was felled by Mohammed Amir.
George Dockrell showed some promise with some aggressive shots but was easily wicketed by Amir before Delaney made 31 off 19 balls.
Shaheen Shah Afridi hit two big sixes in the penultimate over to seal the victory. (AP Photo/Lynn Sladke)
His quick cameo was ended by Imad Wasim (3-8) but Pakistan could not break the partnership for the tenth wicket before Little added a valuable 22 to drag Ireland to a three-figure score.
Mark Adair provided the breakthrough for Ireland as Saim Ayub fell and the all-rounder was once again in the thick of the action, taking a brilliant catch on the boundary to dismiss McCarthy’s batting delivery for 17 off Mohammed Rizwan.
Pakistan kept the scoreboard ticking but suddenly found themselves in trouble after losing three wickets in the space of nine balls, with Curtis Campher dismissing Fakhar Zaman and McCarthy taking Usman Khan and Shadab Khan off the necks.
Captain Babar Azam led the team’s batting line-up with 32 runs without a loss before Afridi sealed the win in style with seven balls remaining.
Every match of the T20 World Cup will be shown live on Sky Sports, including the final in Barbados on Saturday 29 June.
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