T20 World Cup: Babar Azam prevents further embarrassment as Pakistan scrape through in modest chase against Ireland before going home

As Pakistan quickly went about decimating Ireland with their pacers meaning business, it felt more like sombre violin music playing in the background even as the Titanic sank. Like the giant ship that plummeted into the Atlantic, Pakistan have hit such depths at this T20 World Cup that things could only go up.

But midway through their chase of 107 on Sunday, at 62/6, new lows were in sight before captain Babar Azam, who kept getting castigated for his slow approach, played a characteristic knock, dropping anchor to oversee a stormy period and take the team home.

The three-wicket win at Lauderhill, Florida, in this inconsequential fixture, said everything about Pakistan in the shortest format. They arrived at the World Cup counting on their core players’ experience of playing in the Caribbean Premier League, which was supposed to give them an edge. But Pakistan are now headed back home, without even getting a chance to set foot on the Caribbean islands.

It was curtains down on a forgettable campaign, which would apprise head coach Gary Kirsten about the magnitude of the challenge that lies ahead of him. They no more face the risk of falling behind the pack. They have already done so, as even Ireland showed them the mirror.

Unlike most successful T20 teams who assemble a star cast of batsmen and include a couple of X-factors in the bowling unit to seek a cutting edge, Pakistan have traditionally skinned their cat in a different way. With bowling being their stronger suit, they have built their core around them. It is what took Pakistan to successive T20 World Cup finals in 2007 & 2009 and even in 2021. Even in the US, where bowlers have had the upper hand, it was very much their template.

When Shaheen Shah Afridi moves the ball both ways like he did in the first spell on Sunday in Florida – which finally got to witness some action after three successive washouts – and the rest of his attack compliments him, Pakistan can roll over most sides. It has never been their issue.

Like in New York, the conditions were again loaded in favour of bowlers. More so because the pitch had been under covers, which brought seam movement into play. And Afridi, one of the most lethal new-ball bowlers, exploited it to the hilt. An in-swinger got him the first wicket off the third ball before one that shaped the other way brought his second two deliveries later. He nearly had a third in the first over before DRS came to the rescue of Harry Tector.

Left is right

At the other end, another left-arm seamer, Mohammad Amir unleashed his own magic. Unlike Afridi, he didn’t use seam movement to get wickets. Amir’s under-appreciated skillset has been his deceptiveness, especially when he varies his length and pace to outfox batsmen. He got rid of Paul Sterling and George Dockrell by setting them up with seamers before the sucker-punch.

Sterling, after being troubled by movement, tried to charge Amir, only for the pacer to drag the length back a bit and take the edge on the way to the ‘keeper. For Dockrell, well aware that he would be trying to make full use of the last over before Powerplay, Amir kept him guessing by altering his length before sending in the slower one as the all-rounder offered a simple return catch. By the end of the Powerplay, the match was very much in Pakistan’s bag as Ireland’s struggles with the bat continued.

But as has been the case in this T20 World Cup, useful contributions from the lower order are turning into gold as Gareth Delany (31) and Josh Little (22 n.o) played cameos to lift Ireland to 106/9. After the pacers did their part, it was left-arm spinner Imad Wasim (4-0-8-3) who ensured Ireland didn’t make a full recovery. But from 32/6, getting 106 itself was commendable and something for Irish bowlers to work with.

Pakistan’s batting line-up showed there is plenty of soul-searching to do in this format. Skipper Babar continued to bat at No 3, and as he went about scoring at a strike rate in the 90s, it posed questions of its own. His effectiveness in this format has been a contentious topic in Pakistan. However, if not for Babar’s grinding knock, this could have well been a World Cup campaign ending with another humiliation.

They repeated the same mistakes they committed against India, by choking themselves in the middle overs instead of taking full control. Given India’s attack, it seemed understandable yet debatable. But against Ireland it was perplexing.

From 40/2 at the end of the Powerplay, in the next five overs, Pakistan scored only 22 runs and lost four wickets, thanks to some below-par batting. The intent that one associates in T20s is clearly missing. At 62/6, it all depended on Babar to see them through, which he did with Abbas Afridi and Shaheen lending him support.

Unlike their bowling unit, their batting unit seldom instils fear among opposition ranks. It is the reason why teams go out on the attack against them, with one wicket fully capable of bringing two or three more. It is what Ireland got here, until they ran short of answers.

Brief scores: Ireland 106/9 in 20 overs (Gareth Delaney 31, Josh Little 22 not out; Imad Wasim 3/8, Shaheen Afridi 3/22, Mohammad Amir 2/11) lost to Pakistan 111/7 in 18.5 overs (Babar Azam 32 not out; Barry McCarthy 3/15) by 3 wickets

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