Climate change is weird. There could be flash floods in Florida affecting people of Pakistan 8000 miles away. But nothing can be done now, the floods have unleashed how destructive they are. Houses, buildings, roads, and hopes – they take away with them everything. This is the worst Pakistan has performed in a T20 World Cup ever. Since 2007, the year of the first T20 World Cup, the men in green have always ensured to get through at least the group stages of the mega-event. There is a first time for everything they say. But no one explains how to tackle with that first time. As they gear up to play their last scheduled game against Ireland, which is very likely to be washed out (well, climate change has its pros too), Pakistan know that there is nothing they can do to stop the eruption of the overhaul at the PCB which gets triggered at every inconvenience.
Ireland has, themselves, had a shambolic World Cup campaign. Had it not been for the game against the USA that was washed out, their points column would have been empty. The team that came to the USA looked promising and they also defeated the eventual champions of the last edition quite convincingly, so they were expected to do better than just thanking rain for the solitary point next to their name. But luckily, things back home are not as ugly for them as their competitor for the last game. Adding to that, a win over Pakistan could make things faintly better for them at the expense of an exponential increase in Pakistan’s homecoming national wrath.
Team Overview:
There is not one thing that can be listed that went wrong for Pakistan. In all fairness, in a competition where 20 teams are cutting at each other’s throats, there is a little margin of error. And Babar Azam’s men ran out of all that in their first fixture against the USA. Middle Order crumbling is a constant for Pakistan. So much so, that even Darwin would have expected the team to evolve themselves into an entity that does not need a middle order at all. But to the team’s horror, that could not happen. Add to that constant, a rare event of their bowling failing to engulf America in their mojo. With that, everything was over. No more matches to learn the ifs-and-buts scenarios by heart for Pakistan fans. They have crashed straight out of this party and they have only themselves to blame.
Ireland were not expected to win their fixture against India but against Canada, though this edition has shown no regard for predictions, they were favorites. It all was broken into smithereens when Canada gave them a 12-run defeat horror. Opposite to what happened to Pakistan, the Irish top and upper middle order failed to show up for the party. Although they were quite decent with the ball, the batting and that washout against the USA took all the life away from their campaign.
Head-to-Head Matches:
Pakistan has clashed with the Irish team on four occasions in the shortest format of cricket, with the latest three taking place in the build-up to this World Cup where the Irish won one while they were subdued by Pakistan twice in the same series. The remaining fixture of the four came in the 2009 T20 World Cup, where Pakistan bested the game.
Weather and Pitch Report:
Although the weather on Sunday would be better than it was during the whole weekend, the damp outfield might cause problems for the game. The pitch has been under the covers for days so one can not predict how it will play, should the weather allow but Lauderhill is known for its love for batters. A high-scoring game is on the cards with the conditions favouring fast bowlers.
Where to Watch:
You can watch the games on the following platforms as per your region:
- India – Star Sports
- Pakistan – PTV Sports, Ten Sports, Myco (Live streaming) and Tamasha app (Live streaming)
- USA and Canada – Willow TV
- England – Sky Sports Network
- Caribbean – ESPN Caribbean
- New Zealand & Australia – Sky Sports NZ, Prime Video
- Other regions – SuperSport, Sirasa, CricLife, STARZPLAY
