Pakistan: 182-6 (20 Overs)
Ireland: 183-5 (19.5 Overs)
Babar Azam added yet another defeat against a minor team to his captaincy shelf. From losing against Zimbabwe in ODI and T20 World Cup 2022, against Afghanistan in 2023 World Cup, Pakistan now lost against Ireland registering the first-ever defeat against the country.
Ireland is hosting Pakistan for a 3-matches T20 series just before the T20 World Cup. Pakistan and Ireland are in the same group of the World Cup.
In the first match, Ireland Won the toss inviting Pakistan to bat first. Pakistan added 182-6 on the scoreboard. Babar Azam remained the Top-scorer with his 57 (43). He also become the player with most 50+ scores in T20I history. Saim Ayyub scored 45 (29), Fakhar Zaman added 20 (18), Iftikhar Ahmed 37 (15) and Shaheen Shah Afridi scored 14 (8) runs. Opener Muhammad Rizwan ran out after scoring just 1 run. Shadab Khan and Azam Khan scored Ducks. Craige Young from Ireland took 2 Wickets.
The match was in Pakistan’s hands with Shaheen, Naseem, and Abbas in the bowling unit. But Pakistan could not utilize the bowling perfectly and ended up losing the match one-sided. Andrew Balbirnie scored 77 off 55 balls. He also won the “Player of match” reward.
Where things went wrong?
Shadab Khan gave away 54 runs without taking a wicket. He also remained the most expensive bowler of the day. Abbas Afridi was also expensive with his spell.
Pakistan’s fielding unit collapsed yet again. Three important catches were dropped by Fakhar, Shadab, and Iftikhar putting a pressure on bowlers.
Pakistan is not coming up with a strong team combination. Azam Khan and Abbas Afridi’s presence have further raised questions on selectors.
Pakistan will face the host again on 12th of May with an intent to equal the series this time.
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