Pakistan tour of England and Ireland

Pakistan vs Ireland

1st ODI (18 August 2016)

At Malahide Cricket stadium, Dublin, Ireland

Match hadn't started at its actual time because of wet conditions due to rain. After half of an hour toss took place which was won by Ireland's Captain and he decided to bowl first. It was a good decision to bowl first on a greenish track. It was a perfect track for bowlers to bowl on. Due to late start, the match was reduced to 47 overs instead of 50 overs. Pakistani openers Azhar Ali and Sharjeel Khan came to face the Ireland's bowlers. Azhar Ali, captain of Pakistan got out early after scoring just one run. After the dismissal of Azhar Ali, Sharjeel Khan kept the conditions in his hand and started to smash the bowlers. He was looking in a glorious form. His timing was great yesterday. He played a blistering knock of 152 runs. He was hitting the bowl so beautifully. It was a great innings to watch. He got out on 152 runs. After his wicket, the total score of Pakistan was 226-4. Then Shoaib Malik and debutant Nawaz took the responsibility and raised the score to 337 runs. Both batsmen scored a half Century. Pakistan ended their innings on 337-6. BJ McCarthy picked up 4 wickets. It was a huge target and Pakistanis were 80% in the game.

        Now the time had come when the Ireland's batsmen had to face the Pakistani Bowling Attack. Ireland batsmen were struggling against the Pakistani Attack from the start. Their wickets were falling down gradually. Umar Gul and Amir disturbed the furniture. Not only against fast bowlers, batsmen were also struggling against spin. Imad Wasim the left arm off Spinner made it very difficult for batsmen to touch the bowl. He bowled exceptionally well and picked up his first fifer of ODI career. Ireland were all out on just 82 runs. Their supporters were not expecting this from their team mates. Their was a great support for Pakistan too. Crowd were clicking selfies with Pakistani Players. It was a great atmosphere for cricket. People were enjoying every ball of the game.

In my opinion, it was not very good performance from Ireland. They are playing Cricket for a long time and they have learned very small yet. They need to improve now otherwise they were outta here.

      Ireland lost the match. Pakistan won it by 255 runs. Man of the match was given to Sharjeel Khan.

      It was the post of today. We'll meet again, for now Good Bye.

Blogger: Umair Mushtaq