[Watch] Absolute scenes as Ireland beat Pakistan for the first time in T20Is
Ireland men's team stunned Pakistan in the first T20 International on Friday in Dublin to take a 1-0 lead in the three-game series. In what is the Irishman's first win over the sub-continent giants in T20Is, the winning run came off Curtis Campher in the second last ball of the innings.
Ireland skipper Paul Stirling won the toss and sent the visiting side into bat. Babar Azam top-scored for Pakistan with 57 off 43 deliveries, while Saim Ayub chipped in with 45 off 29 balls. Towards the end, Iftikhar Ahmed launched some massive hits, hammering an unbeaten 37 off 15 balls, while Shaheen Shah Afridi smacked two sixes in his eight-ball 14 to lift their side to 182/6 in 20 overs.
In response, the home side lost Stirling and Lorcan Tucker cheaply inside the powerplay. Harry Tector and Andy Balbirnie counterattacked with a partnership of 77. George Dockrell also chipped in with 24 off only 12 balls, while Afridi cleaned up Balbirnie for a match-winning 77 in the 19th over.
With 11 required off the final over, Ireland did it rather comfortably, headlined by two boundaries.
"Almost a perfect day for us" - Ireland skipper after the five-wicket win
Ireland captain Paul Stirling suggested at the post-match presentation that they wanted to test Pakistan what they can after having played on batting-friendly surfaces at home. The 33-year-old claimed:
"We are absolutely delighted, we wanted to start the summer off well and it was almost a perfect day for us. When you come here, especially from Pakistan, the flattest pitches in the world, ask them to bat first and see what they can get. 170 was OK but we leaked a few, but we were happy to chase 180. Brilliant knock from Balbirnie, he got through the powerplay and picked up the pace later on as well."
Pakistan and Ireland will square off against each other in the second T20I on May 12.