Ireland’s World Cup dreams were shattered by a comprehensive victory for Pakistan this morning
It is Pakistan who will advance to the last eight of the Cricket World Cup after a seven-wicket triumph over the Irish in Adelaide, and with their bowling attack continuing their impressive form they will be a dangerous opponent in the knockout stages.
Ireland won the toss and chose to bat first and looked set to pose a decent target as captain Will Porterfield scored a classy century to put his side in position to set a daunting target at 182-4 with 11 overs remaining.
With West Indies having booked their place in the last eight with a comfortable win over the UAE in Napier, the onus was on Ireland to push on.
A total of 300 was not out of the question but Porterfield’s dismissal for 107 triggered a batting collapse that saw Ireland add on just 55 runs for the loss of their remaining wickets, setting Pakistan a target of 238, probably 40-50 short of a really decent total.
Early wickets were the key to Ireland’s hopes of putting Pakistan under pressure, but opening batsmen Ahmed Shehzad and Sarfraz Ahmed were rarely troubled as they put on 120 for the first wicket before Shehzad was caught by Porterfield on 63 off Stuart Thompson’s bowling.
A quick runout offered Ireland hope, Sarfraz joined up with skipper Misbah-ul-Haq to put on 82 for the third wicket to bring Pakistan in sight of victory.
As Pakistan cruised to victory, the only drama surrounded whether the nervy Sarfraz would reach his century, with the opener finally getting there after some farcical scenes in the final overs.
Ireland must now look forward to summer ODIs against England and Australia as they look to continue their campaign for Test status and the reversal of the ICC’s decision to cut the number of teams at the next World Cup to 10.
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