Pakistan finished their T20 World Cup campaign with a win after edging Ireland by three wickets.
With neither side able to qualify for the Super 8 stage from Group A, Pakistan started well to reduce Ireland to 32-6 but knocks from Gareth Delany and Josh Little helped the team recover to finish 106-9.
A Pakistan batting collapse then gave Ireland a glimmer of hope, but two big sixes from Shaheen Shah Afridi in the penultimate over sealed victory.
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Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam underpinned his side’s innings with an unbeaten 32
Afridi earlier took 3-22 and got Pakistan off to the perfect start, taking his three wickets in his first two overs as he began by clipping the top of Andy Balbirnie’s off stump with the third ball of the game.
The paceman took his second two balls later when Lorcan Tucker edged behind and trapped Harry Tector lbw in his next over, with Paul Stirling falling to Mohammad Amir in between times.
George Dockrell showed promise with some aggressive shots but gave his wicket away cheaply to Amir before Delany struck 31 from 19 balls.
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Two big sixes from Shaheen Shah Afridi in the penultimate over sealed victory. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
His quickfire cameo was ended by Imad Wasim (3-8), but Pakistan were unable to break the 10th-wicket partnership as Little added a valuable 22 to drag Ireland into triple figures.
Mark Adair made the breakthrough for Ireland as Saim Ayub fell and the all-rounder was in the thick of the action again, making a brilliant catch on the boundary to dismiss Mohammad Rizwan for 17 off McCarthy.
Pakistan kept the scoreboard ticking, but they were suddenly plunged into trouble after losing three wickets in the space of nine balls as Curtis Campher removed Fakhar Zaman and McCarthy claimed the scalps of Usman Khan and Shadab Khan.
Captain Babar Azam underpinned his side’s innings with an unbeaten 32 before Afridi sealed victory in style with seven balls to spare.
Babar: Pakistan sorry to fans for World Cup performance
“Thank you so much for supporting us, and sorry for that performance.,” Pakistan captain Babar said after the match in Florida.
“I know the fans and the team are saddened by this. It is not any one player’s fault. We all made a mistake.
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Babar apologised to Pakistan’s fans for his side’s display at the T20 World Cup
“The pitches here helped the fast bowlers a little but I think overall our batting did not click.
“We lost two crucial matches even when we were in charge.
“Every player has to think, because cricket has become very fast. With modern cricket, you must have game awareness.
“You know that the strike rate here is (low)… I think it’s about game awareness and common sense.”
Catch every match from the T20 World Cup, including the final in Barbados on Saturday June 29, live on Sky Sports.
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