Sarfraz ton seals quarterfinal spot for Pakistan

Porterfield periodically broke the shackles with some well-placed drives and deflections, but Balbirnie fell once Haris Sohail was brought on to bowl his left-arm spin, as Afridi caught a top-edged sweep at short fine leg.

Gary Wilson also added 48 with Porterfield, and the captain received a standing ovation as a straight biff off Rahat ricocheted off the bowler’s outstretched fingers and down the ground to give him the two runs that raised three figures.

But again, Ireland couldn’t build on a promising partnership. This time, Porterfield was the man to go, mistiming an attempted loft over mid-on. Afridi ran in quickly and snaffled the chance. Porterfield’s 107 had spanned 131 balls and included 11 fours and six off Sohail.

Wilson’s 38-ball 29 ended with an upper cut to third man that Wahab took quite nonchalantly, and the expected explosion from Kevin O’Brien never materialised on a surface that appeared a little two-paced. Ireland lost 6 for 58 in the last 12 overs, as Wahab, Sohail and Rahat showed what a difference genuine pace can make.

After that, the pressure was squarely on the Pakistan batsmen. Fortunately, in Sarfraz the team found the batting hero it so needed.

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