Ireland forced a remarkable tie off the last ball of the match when he hit the world number 1 ODI bowler Saeed Ajmal for four past backward square leg. It crowned another stunning innings by O’Brien who is now very comfortable at the highest level.
His 84 not out included 11 fours and 2 massive sixes. He is now has the highest aggregate runs in ODI’s for Ireland with 1833 which took him past his captain William Porterfield. The result had been set up earlier by a magnificently controlled century by Paul Stirling, his second in a row against Pakistan, which contained 12 fours and 1 six and came of just 102 balls.
His second wicket partnership with Ed Joyce of 96 was instrumental in keeping Ireland in contention. He had earlier shared an opening partnership of 62 with William Porterfield.
The much vaunted Pakistan bowlers were at times made to look ordinary by the Ireland batsmen with the biggest surprise being the 71 runs conceded by the World ODI number 1 Saeed Ajmal. Both Mohammad Irfan and Junaid Khan got wickets but conceded a run a ball from their bowling stints. Their best bowler was Mohammad Hafeez who took 2 for 34 of his 10 overs to compliment his marvellous century.
Earlier on a cold and blustery morning Pakistan won the toss and despite a green looking wicket decided to bat first. Pakistan selected their strongest team so the 2000 spectators, which included a significant Pakistani contingent, will get their first look at the tallest player ever to play international cricket, the 7 foot 1 inch tall fast bowler Mohammad Irfan.
Cautious start
Ireland was also at full strength with the exception of the suspended John Mooney who was replaced by Andrew White. Pakistan made a very cautious start against a tight opening spell by Johnston and Murtagh which yielded just 32 runs from the first 12 overs which was punctuated by a massive 6 over the pavilion by Jamshaid. He then had to retire in the 10th over following a blow on the knee from a Trent Johnston delivery.
The introduction of Alex Cusack, bowling on his home ground, resulted in the first breakthrough when Stirling took a sharp slip catch to dismiss Imran Farhat for 9.
Four rain breaks which reduced the match to 47 overs disrupted Ireland momentum but did not phase Pakistan as Mohammad Hafeez and Asad Shafiq put together a largely untroubled partnership of 188. Both batsmen produced an array of wristy shots which included 21 fours and 2 sixes. As hard as they tried the Irish bowlers lacked the spark that we are normally accustomed to seeing from them.
Even the fielding was comparatively lacklustre. While Cusack and Kevin O’Brien each took 2 wickets they went for over 6 and 8 runs per over respectively as Hafeez in particular punished any delivery that was marginally offline.
Because of the reduced number of overs, Ireland, under the Duckworth Lewis system, required a formidable 276 runs and just came up a fraction short.
Man of the Match was Kevin O’Brien. Misbah ul Haq, the Pakistan captain acknowledged O’Brien’s performance and felt that Ireland deserved to win.
It is a measure of how far Ireland has come when the players expressed a degree of disappointment with result. Sunday cannot come soon enough.
Odran Flynn
Newstalk
Paul Stirling and Kevin O'Brien celebrate ©INPHO/Kieran Murray
