DUBLIN: Ireland won the toss and opted to bowl first against Pakistan in the first match of the three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series, being played at the Clontarf Cricket Club, Dublin, on Friday.
With the series, Babar Azam and Co are starting off their Europe tour ahead of the upcoming, T20 World Cup 2024.
The remaining two matches will take place at Castle Avenue on Sunday and Tuesday, before the team heads to Headingley, Leeds, on Wednesday for a series of four T20Is against England.
Following the England series, with matches scheduled at Headingley (May 22), Birmingham (May 25), Cardiff (May 28), and The Oval, London (May 30), both the teams will head to the T20I World Cup 2024.
Pakistan will launch their campaign against the United States in Dallas on June 6.
Ongoing series marks the first time Ireland will host Pakistan for a T20I series. The two sides have previously met only once in the T20I World Cup 2009 where Pakistan won by 39 runs with Kamran Akmal receiving the player of the match award for his 51-ball 57 and two stumpings.
Interestingly, both teams are in the same group for the T20I World Cup 2024 and will face each other in Florida on June 16. Apart from the two sides, India, USA, and Canada are also in the same group, with the top two teams advancing to the second stage.
Babar Azam, who was recently re-appointed as Pakistan’s white-ball skipper, will lead the visitors while Paul Stirling, a legend of Ireland Cricket, will be guiding his side.
For Pakistan, Mohammad Rizwan returned to the playing XI after recovering from a hamstring injury he picked during the five-match T20I series against New Zealand last month.
Meanwhile, experienced pacer Mohammad Amir will not feature in the first T20I as he received Ireland’s visa with a delay and couldn’t travel to the country in time.
Playing XIs
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abbas Afridi
Ireland: Paul Stirling (c), Mark Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Barry McCarthy, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Ben White, Craig Youn
It is worth mentioning that Pakistan and Ireland are in the same group in the T20 World Cup 2024.
Before this series, Ireland played a three-match T20I series against Afghanistan in March 2024 which they lost 2-1.
Pakistan’s schedule of matches against Ireland
May 10: First T20I at Clontarf
May 12: Second T20I at Clontarf
May 14: Third T20I at Clontarf
