Babar Azam was left relieved after Pakistan made light work of chasing 194 to keep their T20I series with Ireland alive and take it to a winner-takes-all-decider.
Andy Balbirnie's 77 helped Ireland to their first victory over Pakistan in this format on Friday, but Babar's side responded in style on Sunday with their own seven-wicket triumph.
Lorcan Tucker's 51 powered Ireland to an impressive 193-7 in Dublin as Shaheen Shah Afridi registered figures of 3-49 and Abbas Afridi managed 2-33.
Yet that total was far from imposing as Pakistan chased the target down with 19 balls to spare thanks to a remarkable partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman.
The pair combined for a 140-run stand off only 78 balls for the third wicket as Fakhar smashed 78 from 40, while Rizwan was unbeaten on 75 after facing just 46.
"I'm relieved, credit to all batters," Babar said after the win. "We lost a few wickets early on but we kept the momentum going.
"Fakhar is very experienced and played according to situation which demanded positive intent. It's a good side, we got positives in this match and will look to give 100 per cent in the next match."
Rizwan added: "They played really well against us. It was not an easy chase because the Ireland bowlers knew their conditions better.
"They gave us a difficult time early on, but we decided that chasing 194, we have to attack. You're always under pressure when you lose especially with World Cup around the corner."
The two sides will meet again in Dublin on Tuesday to settle the three-match T20I series.
Russell, Narine and Pooran among retentions for 2025 ILT20
West Indian superstars Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Nicholas Pooran are among some of the top players retained by their respective franchises for the 2025 edition of International League T20 in the UAE.
The list also includes David Warner, Wanindu Hasaranga and Sikandar Raza among others.
A total of 69 players have been retained across the six teams, including two UAE players in each franchise.
Other West Indian players among the retentions include Sherfane Rutherford, Andre Fletcher, Johnson Charles, Rovman Powell, Akeal Hosein, Dwayne Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer and Kieron Pollard.
With the player retention window closed, franchises now have the option of signing new players under the player acquisition window that will be open until September 15.
Each franchise will need to rope in a minimum of two more UAE players to their respective rosters to complete the minimum quota of four local players that needs to be filled.
The third season of ILT20 will be held from January 11 to February 9 next year.
Here is the full list of retained players for each franchise:
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders: Aditya Shetty, Ali Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Andre Russell, Andries Ghous, Charith Asalanka, David Willey, Joe Clarke, Laurie Evans, Micheal Pepper and Sunil Narine.
Desert Vipers: Adam Hose, Alex Hales, Ali Naseer, Azam Khan, Bas de Leede, Luke Wood, Micheal Jones, Muhammad Amir, Nathan Sowter, Sherfane Rutherford, Tanish Suri and Wanindu Hasaranga.
Dubai Capitals: Dasun Shanaka, David Warner, Dushmantha Chameera, Haider Ali, Raja Akif, Rovman Powell, Sam Billings, Sikandar Raza, Zahir Khan, Jake Fraser McGurk and Oliver Stone.
Gulf Giants: Aayan Afzal Khan, Blessing Muzarabani, Chris Jordan, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gerhard Erasmus, Jamie Overton, James Vince, Jamie Smith, Jordan Cox, Mohammad Zohaib Zubair, Rehan Ahmed, Richard Gleeson and Shimron Hetmyer.
MI Emirates: Akeal Hosein, Andre Fletcher, Daniel Mousley, Dwayne Bravo, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Jordan Thompson, Kieron Pollard, Kusal Perera, Muhammad Rohid Khan, Muhammad Waseem, Nicholas Pooran, Nosthush Kenjige, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Waqar Salamkheil.
Sharjah Warriors: Dilshan Madushanka, Johnson Charles, Junaid Siddique, Muhamad Jawadullah, Kusal Mendis, Luke Wells, Peter Hatzoglou and Tom Kohler-Cadmore.
India close in on World Cup semi-finals as Hardik stars versus Bangladesh
India are on the cusp of the T20 World Cup semi-finals following a 50-run win over Bangladesh, who are all but eliminated after falling short in their chase in Antigua.
Hardik Pandya was the star of the show, hitting an unbeaten half-century off just 27 deliveries including four fours and three sixes, as India reached an impressive total of 196-5.
He was supported by Virat Kohli, who made his best total of the tournament with 37 before being bowled leg side by Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rishabh Pant (36) and Shivam Dube (34).
The latter's partnership with Hardik helped India go from 108-4 to 161-5 before his dismissal, and some timid Bangladesh bowling ensured their eventual total was never in danger.
Kuldeep Yadav finished with figures of 3-19, bowling Tanzid Hasan lbw in a big moment after Bangladesh inched their way to 66-2. He followed that up with the dismissals of Towhid Hridoy (4) and Shakib Al Hasan (11) as Bangladesh gave themselves far too much to do.
Even Rishad Hossain coming in to smash 24 runs off his first eight balls faced did nothing to faze India, with his attempt at a rescue act ending when he slogged Jasprit Bumrah's delivery straight to Rohit Sharma.
While Bangladesh stay bottom of Group 1, India are the first team in the pool to reach four points, and their net run-rate means they are almost certain to make the semi-finals.
Data Debrief: Pandya ends two-year wait
While India were impressive as a batting unit overall, it was Hardik's quickfire 50 that took them from a defendable total to an impregnable one, representing his best score of the tournament following totals of 7 and 32 versus Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In fact, it was his first 50 in a T20I since November 2022, when he smashed 63 in vain at the semi-final stage of the last T20 World Cup, England's Jos Buttler (80) and Alex Hales (86) putting on an unbeaten masterclass to take their country to the final.
Brook: England out to give the USA 'a good battering'
Harry Brook says England are out to give the United States "a good battering" in Sunday's T20 World Cup contest as they bid to clinch a place in the last four.
Having beaten West Indies and lost to South Africa thus far in the Super 8s, England can all but secure a semi-final berth with a convincing win over the co-hosts in Barbados.
A good run-rate could prove pivotal in Group 2, where there is a chance of England, South Africa and West Indies all finishing on four points.
With that in mind, Brook has backed Jos Buttler's team to go on the offensive, saying: "We've got to win and then obviously see how we are on net run-rate but the main thing is to definitely get that win.
"We've played in Barbados quite a lot in the past six months so we know the conditions, we know the wind and the pitch as well so hopefully we can go out there and give them a good battering.
"I haven't actually seen them play, just a few highlights here and there of their bowlers, but we'll do our analysis and have a proper look to make sure we're ready for the game."
Net run-rate was the only thing that helped England survive the group stage, as they narrowly edged out Scotland to finish second behind Australia.
"We've been there before," Brook added. "We've got to concentrate on winning it first and then we'll have a chat and see what the run-rate says."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
