Pakistan avenged its shock opening defeat to beat Ireland by seven wickets in the second Twenty20 match in Dublin on Sunday and set up a series decider.
Ireland stunned Pakistan by five wickets in the T20 opener on Friday. It was Ireland’s first T20 win over Pakistan.
Ireland made a fast start Sunday after being put into bat, scoring 29 runs in the first three overs before Shaheen Afridi dismissed opening pair Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie in the fourth.
Lorcan Tucker and Harry Tector (32) put on 62 for the third wicket, with Tucker scoring 51 in 34 deliveries.
Curtis Campher (22) and George Dockrell (15) boosted the score before Gareth Delany’s 10-ball 28 not out helped the hosts post 193-7.
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Pakistan wobbled at the beginning of its chase as Saim Ayub was caught in the first over and captain Babar Azam nicked Graham Hume behind to depart for a duck in the second.
But Ireland’s hopes of sealing a famous series win with a game to spare were dashed as Mohammed Rizwan (75 not out off 46 balls) and Fakhar Zaman (78 off 40) put on a stunning 140-run partnership.
Azam Khan then added 30 not out from 10 balls to take Pakistan home with 19 balls to spare and level the series at 1-1.
The third T20 is on Tuesday.
