Published: Mar 15, 2015, 08:22 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 18, 2015, 12:51 PM (IST)
Pakistan’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 journey started in Adelaide with a loss against India followed by another massive loss against West Indies. However the side peaked at the right time to win four consecutive games to make it to the quarterfinal. Ireland, who had begun the campaign with notching up some memorable wins, tried hard but the seven-wicket loss ended their run in the 2015 edition of the mega-event.
Ireland had won the toss and elected to bat first; the idea must have been to put Pakistan under pressure while chasing which the team is not best at. But Ireland couldn’t capitalise with the bat as no one managed to score big apart from captain William Porterfield (107), whose fantastic hundred, helped the Irish team to score 237 in 50 overs. There were pockets of partnership in between, first with Ed Joyce (45 runs, Joyce scored 11), second with Andrew Balbirnie (48 runs, Balbirnie scored 18) and third with Gary Wilson (48 runs, Wilson scored 29). Pakistan bowlers gave the batsmen no room to play their shots as Wahab Riaz (three for 54) ended as the pick of the bowler aided by Sohail Khan (two for 44) and Rahat Ali (two for 48); both of them stepped up in the absence of Mohammad Irfan. (ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Points Table)
Amidst a noisy crowd, Pakistan completed a convincing chase. It was initiated with a commanding 120-run opening partnership between openers Ahmed Shehzad (63) and Sarfraz Ahmed (101*). That Sarfraz stayed till the end made the difference as Pakistan reached 241 for three in 46.1 overs, beating Ireland by seven wickets. Sarfraz’s partnership with Misbah-ul-Haq (39) assured Pakistan of the win; the captain, however, got out in a rare fashion, hit wicket off Alex Cusack. Ireland bowlers never really put any pressure on the batsmen as Cusack (one for 43) and Stuart Thompson (one for 59) were the lone wicket-takers in the Irish camp. (Pakistan vs Ireland: Pick of the tweets)
Sarfraz was awarded the man-of-the-match for his maiden One-Day International (ODI) hundred. Pakistan move to the quarter-final and will now face Australia in Adelaide on Friday.
Brief Scores:
Ireland 237 all out in 50 overs (William Porterfield 107; Wahab Riaz 3-54, Sohail Khan 2-44, Rahat Ali 2-48) lost to Pakistan 241 for three in 46.1 overs (Sarfraz Ahmed 101*, Ahmed Shehzad 63, Misbah-ul-Haq 39) – by seven wickets
