The chase was rocked early by Irish pacers Josh Little, Barry McCarthy and Curtis Campher, leaving Pakistan three down for 52. McCarthy returned to dismiss Usman Khan and Shadab Khan in the space of three deliveries in the 10th over to stall the momentum. Skipper Babar Azam then shepherded the chase against tumbling lower-order wickets to see off the chase, unbeaten on 32 off 34 balls. Shaheen Afridi hit the winning runs, smacking two sixes in the penultimate over.

Earlier, it was an Afridi burst that set the ball rolling for Pakistan. The left-arm snapped up two wickets in the first over before adding a third in his next over. Ireland were reduced to 15 for four before a rearguard show from Gareth Delany and Josh Little dragged the side over 100. Left-arm spinner Imad Wasim restricted the lower-order with figures 3/4 in four overs.

Pakistan avoided their second defeat against Ireland in T20Is, the first of which came before the World Cup in a bilateral meeting between the sides. The result left Pakistan third in Group A with their second win.

It is Pakistan’s poorest finish at a T20 World Cup across nine editions, having previously finished fourth out of five teams in a Super 10 group in 2014.