Pakistan hammer Ireland by 255 runs in first ODI

Pakistan handed Ireland a mammoth 255 run defeat in the first one-day international at Malahide on Thursday.

In a match that was curtailed to 47 overs per side due to rain, Pakistan put on 337 runs on the board for the loss of 6 wickets. Sharjeel Khan top scored for the tourists with a brilliant 152. The opener had 16 hits to the fence and sent 9 more sailing into the stands.

In response, Ireland collapsed under the burden of the run-chase and collapsed by the 24^th over while managing just 82. Left-arm spinner Imad Wasim was the destroyer-in-chief from Pakistan with figures of 5/14.

Earlier, the hosts having won the toss, Ireland sent Pakistan in to bat. Their decision seemed to have worked when Azhar Ali was sent back by Barry McCarthy in the fourth over. But thereafter, it was all one-way traffic. By the time Sharjeel Khan departed in the 32^nd over, Pakistan already had 226 on the board. Thereafter, Shoaib Mailk and Mohammad Nawaz piled on the misery for Ireland by stroking half-centuries. While Malik’s 57 came off just 37 deliveries (6 boundaries and 2 sixes), Nawaz scored a 50 ball 53 (7 boundaries).

Ireland’s miserable outing took a turn for the worse when Paul Stirling was clean bowled by Mohammad Amir off the very second ball of the run chase. By the end of the 10^th over, Ireland were reeling at 32/4. Umar Gul celebrated his return to the Pakistan squad by picking up 3/23. With the top-order having been cleaned up, Imad Wasim took over and finished off the tail. Only Gary Wilson offered a semblance of resistance with a top-score of 21 for the Irish.

Ireland’s captain William Porterfield lamented the loss, “It was a good toss [for Pakistan] to win but we let ourselves down with the ball. We can't let teams get away from us like that. It is a tough learning curve bowling against some of the best batsmen in the world but our young bowlers want to come back, go again and come back stronger. It is difficult chasing down a total like that; we just have to go and address how we went wrong.”

The teams will play their second and final ODI on saturday at the same venue. Thereafter, Pakistan will move on to play England. Ireland will then travel to South Africa for ODIs against the hosts at Benoni, South Africa.