Pak beat Ireland,Enter Semis…[icc wt20,Sup8,match9]

Day 11 of the t20 world cup.The championship was reaching a point of finish.The final 4 top teams making it to the semis had to be decided.In group F,Sri Lanka were through to the semis and Pakistan too had almost made it.But they had to beat Ireland for an official entry and they accomplished it in style on monday.Ireland was always a easy piece of bread for them if there were no untoward surprises.Batting first Pakistan had a good start provided by their prolific scoring openers Akmal and Shahzaib.Shahzaib made the bulk of the scoring in the partnership and scored a 19 ball 23 before he departed with the score board reading 38.Afridi continued the momentum and made a quickfire 24 in 13 balls with 3 boundaries.Pakistan were cruising along at one stage when Ireland put brakes on the run machine.Younis,Misbah and Razzaq made useful but minor contributions.But the bulk of the scoring for Pakistan was done by a brilliant knock of 57 runs made in 51 deliveries by Kamran Akmal,who was a part of many tiny partnerships.He set the platform for the Pakistanis holding the ground at the other end and playing sensibly to build up a total.His efforts saw Pakistan ending up at 159 runs in their 20 overs losing 5 wickets in the proceedings.He hit 5 fours and a six in his well drafted innings.For Ireland,McCallan picked up two wickets giving away 26 runs and in the context was their successful bowler.Rankin bowled tight and gave away only 11 runs in his 4 overs,not to speak about the other bowlers,who were punished by the Pakistanis batsmen.

For Ireland,Porterfield top scored with a 36 ball 40 including 2 hits to the fence.But that really didnt solve the purpose for the Irish team.While Porterfield showed charecter,the others didnt.It was a parade thereafter wherein the batsmen kept coming and going untill nobody were left to do anything.Stirling and K.O’Brien tried to keep things going and showed some resistence.But it was never enough.None of the Irish batsmen tried to hang in and put on a decent partnership which could take them somewhere near the desired target.They played kids cricket.Their inexperience never got the better of the Pakistani skills.The Pak bowlers never allowed the pressure on the Irelanders to ease out and constantly kept attacking at them,picking the wickets in the proceedings at will.Ireland was shattered out for 120 runs in their 20 overs,losing 9 wickets.All the Pakistani bowlers delivered goods and bowled a tidy line and length,testing the nerves of the Irish batsmen.Ajmal picked 4 wickets giving away only 19 runs.Gul chipped in with an impressive 2 for 19.Aamer,Afridi and Razzaq bowled tightly at the other end and chocked the batsmen.The Akmal-Ajmal show made sure that the Pakistani team entered the semi finals ending the world cup campaign of the Ireland team.

New Zealand crush Ireland…[icc wt20,Sup8-match 1]

Nottingham,England…icc w t20 day 7…Super 8′s, match 1. In an expected way superb beginning to the super 8 stage witnessed miserable defeat of Ireland in the hands of the Kiwis. B.McCullum and new find Redmond started the proceedings for New Zealand with a stabilizing opening partnership of 51 runs.Redmond was brought in as a replacement and to fill the slot of Jesse Ryder.He fit his portfolio the best way he could and without wasting the given opportunity came with a fiery knock of a 30 ball 63 including 13 hits to the fence.He did the bulk of scoring for the first wicket.McCullum was the first to go when the board read 51,making just 10runs,masked at the other end by Redmond.Guptill and Styris made useful contributions of 45 and 42 runs respectively coming at a brisk pace aswell.Guptill made a fest hitting 4 sixes in his 32 ball 45 and Styris too hit 3 more in his 25 ball 42.Oram made a breezy 15 with 1 four and a six.Losing 5 wickets in the proceedings,the black caps made 198 which appeared too much for the Irish team,as they later proved the point.For Ireland McCallan and Cusack took 2 wickets each.New Zealand was still playing without their assigned cptain Vettori,who couldnt play even a single match since the start of the world cup,being rested for shoulder injury.McCullum has taken up as the stand in skipper.

In reply Ireland lost more than half of their team even before reaching the 3 digit mark when the score read 86 for 6 at a stage.Brilliant fielding by New Zealand saw 4 Irish batsmen getting run out or may be due to pressure too.Botha top scored for Ireland with a 17 ball 28.All the bowlers were up to the mark and were doing what the doctor have ordered for New Zealand.Mills was impressive with 2 for 12.But impressive figures with the ball were produced by N.McCullum taking 3 for 15 in his 5 overs.Ireland were bundled out for 115 runs within 16.4 overs enabling Kiwis to take a comfortable victory with a margin of 83 runs.So no surprises in the first super 8 match,New Zealand taking all the honours.The dejected Irish team should think different if they have to do something in their remaining 2 encounters with Pakistan and SriLanka,so as not to surrender cheaply donating points to the opposition.Whether Ireland can create sensation again as they did in their initial match and give a run for money to their stronger opponents is to be seen……..