Junaid four-for wrecks Ireland

Pakistan go one-up in two-match series as they beat the hosts by seven wickets.

BELFAST:

Pakistan’s Junaid Khan ensured Ireland came back down to earth after their World Cup exploits as the tourists thrashed Ireland in the rain-affected series-opener by seven wickets.

Left-arm paceman Junaid, in only his fifth match at this level, made light of the cold and blustery conditions at Stormont to take four wickets for 12 runs in five overs before off-spinner Saeed Ajmal polished off the tail with three for seven in three. Ireland, who at the World Cup defeated old rivals England in Bangalore, were dismissed in a mere 20 overs.

Rain forced delayed start

Rain, which had reduced what should have been a 50 overs per side contest to 38 before a ball had been bowled, returned to cut the match to 36. At the interruption, Ireland were in trouble at 76 for six and it would have been even worse but for a whirlwind 39 from 22 balls by Paul Stirling.

The Middlesex opener hit seven fours and a six, including 19 off Tanvir Ahmed which took him out of the attack. But when he was out, skying Junaid into the covers in the sixth over, his teammates folded with virtually no resistance.

Poor start by the hosts

Ireland captain William Porterfield gave up his opening slot to Ed Joyce but it suited neither of the county cricketers as both were caught behind for an aggregate of five runs. Apart from Stirling, only Gary Wilson (11) and Kevin O’Brien (15), the hero against England with the fastest-ever World Cup century, reached double figures.

Such was Pakistan’s dominance, even Younus Khan was given a rare bowl by his new one-day captaiin, Misbahul Haq. He got among the wickets when he had John Mooney caught in the gully but at that stage Pakistan were well on their way to taking a decisive lead in this two-match series.

The Duckworth-Lewis method for rain-affected matches helped their cause even more, setting Pakistan a revised victory target of 95 in 36 overs.

Pakistan openers Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar got off to a slow but steady start as both took their time to play themselves in. Hafeez scored 52 before he was dismissed the ball after reaching his half-century while Taufeeq managed to crawl to 23 off 62 balls before being the first batsman to be dismissed.

Pakistan did have a stutter towards the end when they lost two wickets for ten runs but captain Misbah smashed a boundary not only to get off the mark but seal Pakistan’s win in the first of the two matches. The final match takes place at the same venue tomorrow.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2011.