Pakistan Raring to Go Against Ireland

Dublin: Pakistan are keener than ever to get back on the field for the first of two one-day internationals against Ireland on Thursday after their second ODI against Scotland on the weekend was a wash-out.

As Ireland are the strongest team outside the Full Members - they are five places below sixth ranked Pakistan - it promises to be a more searching examination for the team as the countdown to the Champions Trophy starts in earnest.

Although Scotland caused Misbah ul-Haq's side early problems in both innings of the first game, reducing Pakistan to 115 for five and then racing away to 50 for one in 12 overs, a captain's knock doubled the tourists' score in the last 20 overs and three wickets each from Junaid Khan and Saaed Ajmal hurried Scotland to a 96-run defeat.

Seven players of the Ireland team are regulars in their county line-ups and the other four, including Kevin O'Brien, the man who almost single-handedly defeated England two years ago with the fastest ever century at the World Cup finals, are likely to have more than 230 one-day international appearances between them.

Indeed, O'Brien is one of five survivors from the game that put Ireland on the world map, their victory over Pakistan at Sabina Park, Jamaica. Also still around and arguably playing better than ever are winning captain Trent Johnston, Niall O'Brien, Andrew White and current skipper William Porterfield.

Pakistan still have three players from that infamous day six years ago: Kamran Akmal, their top scorer and who has previous experience of club cricket in Ireland, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez.

Hafeez disappeared from the Pakistan Test team after the 2007 World Cup but after a three-year exile he has not only returned to the fold but is now considered the captain-elect when Misbah decides to step down.

Teams from

Ireland: William Porterfield (captain), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, John Mooney, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien (wk), Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Andrew White, Gary Wilson (wk), Ed Joyce, Tim Murtagh, James Shannon

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal (wk), Imran Farhat, Nasir Jamshed, Asad Shafiq, Shoaib Malik, Umar Amin, Wahab Riaz, Abdur Rehman, Asad Ali, Ehsan Adil, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Saeed Ajmal

Match facts
Thursday May 23, 2013
Start time 10.45 local (0945 GMT, 14:45 PKT)

Scores	Upcoming	Results
Chennai Super Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants - 39th Match Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Titans - 40th Match 41st Match - Sunrisers Hyderabad v Royal Challengers Bangalore - April 25, 14:00 GMT 4th T20I - Pakistan v New Zealand - April 25, 14:30 GMT 38th Match - Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians at Jaipur Rajasthan Royals won by 9 wickets (with 8 balls remaining) 37th Match - Punjab Kings v Gujarat Titans at Chandigarh Gujarat Titans won by 3 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)

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