Shaheen Afridi’s brilliant display of seam bowling embedded with pace and aggression saw him bagging six wickets that bundled out Ireland for a mere 97 runs at the Cobham Oval in Whangarei.

Afridi rose to occasion bagging six wickets in 8.5 overs giving away only 15 overs including three maidens, the best-ever figures by any Pakistani bowlers at the U-19 World Cup arena.

Afridi’s brilliance helped them sail past to a nine-wicket victory and stay in contention for a spot in the knockouts. Zaid Alam (43* off 19) and captain Hassan Khan (27* off 21) added a quick 53 to finish things off to bring up the 98-run target in just 8.5 overs.

Ireland openers were put to bat first in overcast conditions, but Jamie Grassi and Mark Donegan couldn’t provide solid start unlike they did against Sri Lanka. The opening stand was broken by Arshad Iqbal at 20 runs when Donegan departed at 11. Afridi had Mark Topping (2) edging outside tasted with bouncers eventually top-edged to the ‘keeper.

The short-ball barrage then led to the dismissal of in-form Grassi, as well, leaving Ireland at 34/4. Sam Murphy and Neil Rock then combined for a 30-run stand, as Ireland inched past 50. Afridi then returned and mixed up his short-deliveries with yorkers to decimate the rest of the Ireland lower order, along with Hassan.

Joshua Little looked to muscle Ireland past the 100-mark with a couple of boundaries. He ended unbeaten on a 20-ball 24, are wickets crumbled from the opposite end.

In reply, Pakistan wasted no time, as they hit 13 runs off the first over including six extras. Rohail Nazir was dismissed for 18, but Hassan then joined Alam and the two finished things off quickly.

The duo too added just 4.4 overs to bring up the winning runs and Alam brought up the winning runs in style with a pull for six over square leg.

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