Pakistan vs. Ireland: Highlights, Scorecard and Report from Cricket World Cup

Pakistan ended Ireland’s World Cup dreams with a seven-wicket victory in Adelaide.

After the West Indies’ comprehensive victory earlier, it was a winner-takes-all clash for third place in Pool B.

Ireland captain William Porterfield won the toss and decided to bat first. The opener led from the front making 107 in their total of 237.

			Runs	Minutes	Balls	4s	6s
Porterfield	c Shahid Afridi	b Sohail Khan	107	164	131	11	1
Stirling	lbw	b Ehsan Adil	3	15	8	0	0
Joyce	c U Akmal	b Riaz	11	40	18	1	0
N O'Brien	c U Akmal	b Rahat Ali	12	19	10	2	0
Balbirnie	c Shahid Afridi	b Haris Sohail	18	45	36	0	0
Wilson	c Riaz	b Sohail Khan	29	48	38	2	0
K O'Brien	c Maqsood	b Riaz	8	40	16	1	0
Thompson	c U Akmal	b Rahat Ali	12	13	15	1	0
Mooney	c U Akmal	b Riaz	13	26	19	1	0
Dockrell	run out (Sarfraz Ahmed)		11	14	8	0	1
Cusack	not out		1	4	1	0	0
Extras		0nb 10w 0b 2lb	12
	Bowler		Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
	Sohail Khan		10	0	44	2
	Ehsan Adil		7	0	31	1
	Rahat Ali		10	0	48	2
	Riaz		10	0	54	3
	Shahid Afridi		10	0	38	0
	Haris Sohail		3	0	20	1

Pakistan made the chase look easy, polishing off the total with 23 balls to spare, to set up a last-eight clash with Australia in the same city on Friday.

			Runs	Minutes	Balls	4s	6s
Shehzad	c Joyce	b Thompson	63	95	71	7	0
Sarfraz Ahmed	not out		101	201	124	6	0
Haris Sohail	run out (Balbirnie)		3	8	7	0	0
Misbah-ul-Haq	hit wicket	b Cusack	39	59	46	3	2
U Akmal	not out		20	36	29	4	0
Extras		0nb 13w 1b 1lb	15
Bowler			Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Cusack			10	1	43	1
Mooney			9	1	40	0
Thompson			10	0	59	1
Dockrell			6	0	43	0
K O'Brien			10	0	49	0
Stirling			1.1	0	5	0

Porterfield brought up his seventh ODI century from 124 balls and anchored the innings before being the fifth man to be dismissed in the 39th over.

"

WATCH: William Porterfield brings up his first World Cup century. Live on Sky Sports World Cup. #CWC15 #fireitup http://t.co/TAP7Lvsf4C

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) March 15, 2015"

Ireland managed only 54 runs in the final 11 overs after Porterfield’s dismissal, with George Dockrell run out off the final ball of the innings, as Wahab Riaz picked up 3-54.

The highest partnership of the innings was only 48 as a series of batsmen got themselves in and then out despite Pakistan missing injured paceman Mohammad Irfan.

"

Pakistan have won chasing 16 times in Australia Chased 235+ 4 times (274/9, 274/4, 268/7, 254/5) #BingPredicts #DimagSay #PAKvsIRE #CWC15

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) March 15, 2015"

An opening partnership of 120 between Sarfraz Ahmed and Ahmed Shehzad gave Pakistan the confidence that they would not suffer the same fate as at the 2007 World Cup when they were knocked out by Ireland after losing their clash in Kingston by three wickets.

There was a mid-innings wobble when Shehzad (63) top-edged an attempted pull off Stuart Thompson to mid-on before Haris Sohail, replacing injured senior batsman Younus Khan, was run out for 3.

"

WATCH: Thompson finally makes the breakthrough as Joyce catches Shehzad at mid-on for 63. #CWC15 #fireitup http://t.co/NwFW7IwnUf

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) March 15, 2015"

However, the 1992 champions, who lost their opening two matches, completed their fourth consecutive victory as Sarfraz made an unbeaten 101 and was supported by captain Misbah-ul-Haq (39) and Umar Akmal (20), who hit the winning runs.

The Irish, the only one of the four Associate Nations to beat a Test-playing country at the tournament, can go home with their heads held high after wins over West Indies and Zimbabwe plus the UAE.