It would be wrong to say that one did not expect Pakistan to lose against Ireland. And that is exactly what happened in the first T20I of the series, where the Babar Azam & Co. was beaten by the hosts, by five wickets. Chasing a target of 183, the Irish team managed to cross the line with one ball to spare.
The star of the chase was opener Andrew Balbirnie, who smashed 77 from 55 deliveries, well supported by Harry Tector (36 from 27), George Dockrell (24 from 12), and Curtis Campher (15 from 7). Pakistan bowling wasn’t the greatest on the day, as spinner Shadab Khan went for 54 runs, Naseem Shah went for 37, and Abbas Afridi gave away 36. Fielding was below par too, as first Fakhar Zaman dropped Paul Stirling, and then Iftikhar dropped Dockrell.
Babar Azam Blames Bowling & Fielding
Post match, skipper Babar wasn’t a happy man. He went on to say that the team didn’t execute the plans. “We didn’t start well in the first 6 overs; the pitch was a bit two-paced and had some bounce. We recovered well after that and got 182 but I think 190 was a par score,” he said. “But I think we lost due to the bowling and fielding. We didn’t execute our plans and had some sloppy lapses in the field which cost us,” he added.
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Pakistan Batters Ordinary as Well
Even though Babar himself scored 57 from 43, but his strike rate of 132 revealed the true picture — that it was a real struggle out in the middle. It was just Iftikhar Ahmed whose 37 from 15 brought some semblance to the total, otherwise it would have been a much-easier chase for Ireland.
Meanwhile, this is Ireland’s first win over Pakistan in a T20I. The loss also puts a big question mark on Pakistan’s preparations for the T20 World Cup, starting June 1.
