Tourists bowl out the hosts on 82 in chase of 338 with Imad Wasim picking up five wickets in an impressive win.

By Abdullah Ansari (18th August, 2016)

Toss: Ireland won the toss and chose to bowl.

Teams:

Pakistan: Azhar Ali (c), Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Nawaz, Imad Wasim, Umar Gul, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir

Ireland: PR Stirling, EC Joyce, WTS Porterfield (c), NJ O'Brien (wk), KJ O'Brien, GC Wilson, SW Poynter, AR McBrine, BJ McCarthy, TJ Murtagh, PKD Chase

Pakistan Innings

The start was delayed due to a wet outfield, with the match starting 100 mins after the originally scheduled start. Pakistan started the innings very positively with Sharjeel Khan taking 11 of the first over, and that set the template for the innings. Azhar Ali struggled during his brief stay and was out for 1. Hafeez joined Sharjeel and stayed at the crease for a while; despite a struggle, he made 37 runs in a 90-run partnership with Sharjeel Khan, who reached a 50 off just 34 balls. Babar Azam joined the opener at the crease and rotated strike well, allowing Sharjeel to play big shots as he reached a brilliant 61-ball hundred. He was particularly effective with the pull shot. Babar made 29 in his stay, forming a 96 run partnership. Sharjeel continued, getting to the 3rd fastest 150 in ODI, off 85 balls before he was finally dismissed after hitting 16 fours and 9 sixes. Sarfraz also fell as Pakistan faced a short hiccup, but Nawaz and Malik hit good fifties to recover and guided Pakistan to a strong 337/6.

Fall Of Wickets

1-17 (Azhar Ali, 3.3 ov)
2-107 (Mohammad Hafeez, 18.5 ov)
3-203 (Babar Azam, 29.2 ov)
4-226 (Sharjeel Khan, 31.6 ov)
5-227 (Sarfraz Ahmed, 32.3 ov)
6-332 (Mohammad Nawaz, 46.2 ov)

Ireland Innings Pakistan started strongly, as Amir dismissed Stirling off just his 2nd delivery. There was no let-up from the other end, as Umar Gul soon got in on the act, dismissing Porterfield, Joyce and Kevin O'Brien to leave Ireland reeling at 32/4. A short partnership was constructed, but then the two slow-left armers took over as Imad Wasim broke through with a double strike to dismiss Niall O'Brien and Poynter. Another partnership developed until Mohammad Nawaz got a wicket on debut to compliment his fifty, dismissing Wilson. Imad then ran through the tail, finishing with 5-14 as Ireland failed to put up any fight of note.

Fall Of Wickets

1-0 (Stirling, 0.2 ov)
2-22 (Porterfield, 7.3 ov)
3-28 (Joyce, 9.4 ov)
4-32 (KJ O'Brien, 9.6 ov)
5-51 (NJ O'Brien, 15.1 ov)
6-55 (Poynter, 15.4 ov)
7-81 (Wilson, 22.2 ov)
8-82 (McCarthy, 23.1 ov)
9-82 (Murtagh, 23.2 ov)
10-82 (Chase, 23.4 ov)

Match Summary:

Pakistan steamrolled the opposition, as Sharjeel Khan first completely deflated the Irish bowling attack with a stunning bout of calculated hitting and they never recovered as Pakistan posted a mammoth score. Ireland never looked like chasing it down, either, as they lost regular wickets and just wilted against the scoreboard pressure. This is Pakistan's biggest win in ODIs, and Ireland's second largest loss. Ireland will have to put up a better show in the second ODI, or Pakistan will run away with an easy 2-0 series win.

Next Game:

2nd ODI at Dublin (Malahide), 20th August, 09:45 GMT.

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