Pakistan v Ireland Prediction: Sulky favourites worth opposing

It’s Pakistan v Ireland on Sunday, June 16 (15:30, Sky Sports Cricket) at Lauderhill in yet another match where the weather may play a big part, given the forecast.

But if they do get a result out there, James Pacheco thinks that it’s Ireland who represent the better bet against a Pakistan side who often lose interest when it doesn’t matter as he takes us through his match preview in our Pakistan vs Ireland T20 World Cup Predictions...

Pakistan

Twice they had the game in the palm of their hands, twice they let it slip through them. It’s actually hard to know which of the two defeats- India or USA- was the hardest to swallow.

They can bemoan their luck that the USA’s match against Ireland was washed out which deprived them of a shot at an unlikely passage to the next stage but of course, it should have never come to that.

You could say that even if they had made the next round, they probably wouldn’t have made it to the last four anyway with a brand of batting that was both too pedestrian and at times lacking ‘cricket smarts’

It makes you wonder why they were keen to re-appoint Babar Azam as captain, whose first spell in charge hadn’t been great and simply out, isn’t a particularly good captain.

It will be interesting to see if the likes of Abbas Afridi and Azam Khan get a game or if they play what they think is their strongest side to try and save some face.

Possible XI: Rizwan, Usman Khan, Babar, Zaman, Shadab, Azam Khan, Ahmed, Wasim, Afridi, Rauf, Shah, Amir.

Ireland

Three matches: two defeats and a washout. There’s no disgrace in losing heavily to India of course but that loss to Canada was less excusable given the two teams’ respective rankings.

Two matches is a small sample but no-one got to 50 in them and no-one took more than two wickets across them.

One of the few positives was the lower order battling hard to add some late runs, but that’s clutching at straws.

They’re a better side than that what we saw in those two matches and will need to have a proper assessment of what went wrong because in the likes of Paul Stirling, Mark Adair, Curtis Campher and Lorcan Tucker they have some pretty decent players.

Possible XI: Stirling, Balbirnie, Tucker, Tector, Campher, Dockrell, Delany, Adair, McCarthy, Little, Young.

Pitch and conditions

We don’t know much about the wicket at Lauderhill because the last two matches there were washed out without a single ball being bowled.

At the time of writing, India v Canada on Saturday afternoon is unlikely to be completed, but you never know.

The forecast isn’t great for this one either but remember that five overs a side still constitutes a game so if there’s time for that, weather permitting, we’ll get a result.

Pakistan vs Ireland Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Pakistan vs Ireland T20 World Cup market page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Pakistan are 3/10. If you’re considering backing them at that price it’s because you probably didn’t watch them play over the past two weeks. In addition to not doing the basics right and folding under pressure, they can also be a sulky lot who show a disdain for dead runners more than most.

Two further reasons suggest Ireland are a good bet. If it’s a shortened match, the top order will need to go at it harder than usual, something Pakistan seem incapable of doing. It will also limit how many overs their star bowlers - Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf - can bowl.

We may not get a game at all, of course, but if we do, the 12/5 on Ireland is far more appealing.

Ireland Fall of First Wicket

Still, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah can be unplayable with the new ball and particularly on a wet track in overcast conditions if that’s what, as expected, we get.

Against India their openers were out for 5 and 2 and then against Canada it was 17 and 6, so they haven’t exactly got off to good starts.

Stirling in particular has looked out sorts and against this bowling attack, could go early, especially if looking to force the issue.

10/11 on their first wicket falling before they’ve scored 18 runs looks a decent wager.

Jamie Pacheco predominantly covers Cricket for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out his Cricket Betting Tips, along with those from the rest of the team, at our Cricket hub page...