In a bid to secure a consolation win, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first against Ireland in their final Twenty20 World Cup match. With India and the U.S. already securing qualification from Group A, both teams were looking to end their tournament on a positive note.
Pakistan, the 2009 champion and 2022 runner-up, faced a disappointing campaign as they failed to progress for the first time in the history of the tournament. Suffering defeats against the United States and India, Pakistan's performance fell short of expectations.
For the match against Ireland, Pakistan made a change in their lineup, bringing in fast bowler Abbas Afridi in place of Naseem Shah. Surprisingly, spinner Abrar Ahmed did not get a chance to play a single game in the tournament.
On the other hand, Ireland made a change as well, introducing leg-spinner Ben White in place of Craig Young. Ireland struggled in previous matches against India and Canada on challenging pitches in New York, with their game against the U.S. being washed out due to inclement weather in Florida.
The Lauderhill venue faced unfortunate weather conditions, with all three World Cup games being abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain and a wet outfield.
Lineups for the match were as follows:
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abbas Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Amir.
Ireland: Andy Balbirnie, Paul Stirling (captain), Lorcan Tucker, Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Josh Little, Ben White.
As the teams prepared to face off in their final group stage match, both Pakistan and Ireland were eager to end their Twenty20 World Cup campaign on a positive note.
