Ireland shock Pakistan in World Cup

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New Delhi:Pakistan were not exactly in the midst of a fine run going into the World Cup but no one would have expected them to be virtually out of the championship after their first two matches.

But that is exactly what happened at the Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica on Saturday as the 1992 champions went down to Ireland in a group D match, as if emulating neighbours India, who had lost to Bangladesh a little earlier in group B.

Pakistan's three-wicket loss to Ireland on their national St. Patrick's Day came after a forgettable recent few weeks that included a tour of South Africa where they lost the ODI series 3-1 and the following drama over the exclusion of drug-tainted pacemen Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif.

Ireland's first two matches have been just the opposite. They held Test playing nation Zimbabwe to a tie in their first match and by upsetting former champions Pakistan, have caught the attention of the cricket world in their maiden World Cup.

The hero with the bat for Ireland was Niall O'Brien, who struck a defiant 72 in their chase of 133 that was eventually revised to 128 off 47 overs because of a rain interruption.

Niall O'Brian had looked set to guide the time to victory but a rush of blood saw him jumping out to off-spinner Shoaib Malik and being stumped easily by Kamran Akmal with just 20 runs to get in fading light. He faced 106 balls, hitting six fours and a six.

The 25-year-old with the experience of eight previous ODIs, ensured the chase after new-ball bowler Boyd Rankin led the assault earlier in the day. Rankin bagged 3-32, which included the important scalps of Younis Khan and Kamran Akmal. Andre Botha and Kyle McCallan bagged two wickets apiece.

Ireland made the most of the seaming conditions to torment a struggling Pakistan side, which had lost its opening match to the West Indies.

Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals and were 72-6 by the 21st over. Opener Imran Nazir's laboured 24 off 51 deliveries was followed by Akmal's 27 off 47 at the number seven position but the remaining batsmen failed to come to terms with some accurate bowling.

Pakistan next face Zimbabwe in their final league match on March 21.