In a first, Ireland beat Pakistan in T20Is

In a first, Ireland defeated Pakistan by five wickets in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Clontarf Cricket Club, Dublin, on Friday.

This was the first time Ireland defeated Pakistan in T20Is as both teams only locked horns once in the shorter format before where the Green Shirts emerged victorious.

Despite a brilliant start while defending the 183-run target as Pakistan managed to get two wickets in the first five overs with Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi striking for them, the Green Shirts couldn’t stand against Andrew Balbirnie and Harry Tector.

Both the Irish batters stood tall against Pakistan’s bowling attack and formed a formidable 77-run partnership which brought the home team back in the game after a disastrous start.

Tector departed after scoring 36 runs but Balbirnie stood tall and continued to score for his side. George Dockrell brought the much-needed energy to Ireland’s innings as he scored 24 runs on 12 balls with four boundaries, which turned out to be the turning point of the match.

Shaheen bagged two wickets while Abbas Afridi, Imad Wasim and Naseem Shah picked one wicket each.

Pakistan got a major breakthrough when Shaheen removed Balbirnie but Gareth Delany (10 on 6) and Curtis Campher (15 on 7) cruised the home side to victory.

Batting first, Pakistan posted 182/6 as skipper Babar Azam starred with 57 off 43 balls while Saim Ayub made 29-ball 45. Iftikhar Ahmed chipped in with 15-ball 37*.