Ireland fall 38 runs short against Pakistan

Ireland are still waiting for their first victory at a World Twenty20 after falling 38 runs short last night in their second group game in Guyana.

Opponents Pakistan offered Laura Delany's side their best hope of victory - with games against India and New Zealand to follow - but the Asians posted 139-6, their highest score in a T20 international, with captain Javeria Khan's 74 not out their highest individual score.

Isobel Joyce top scored for Ireland with 30 from 31 balls but apart from Clare Shillington's 27 off 25, no-one else reached double figures as the innings subsided tamely.

Delany lost the toss but said she would have bowled anyway and for eight overs Ireland were in control, restricting Pakistan to 29-1, which included a maiden over from 18-year-old Lucy O'Reilly.

But the captain needlessly brought herself on a sixth bowler in the 10th over and Joyce as a seventh in the 12th over and they conceded 13 and 12 runs respectively in their only overs. Australian-born Celeste Raack, given her Ireland debut in place of Cecelia Joyce, almost had a wicket first ball but Mary Waldron was just too slow with the stumping attempt and, crucially, three balls later, Javeria, with only nine to her name, was missed at long-on by Clare Shillington.

In all the confusion with the changes, Ciara Metcalfe, their experienced slow bowler, bowled only three overs, despite figures of 1-16 while Raack finished with 1-35 from her full allocation of four overs.

The stand-out bowler was O'Reilly who finished as impressively as she started, taking three wickets for four runs in the last over for figures of 3-19.

Ulster-born Shillington hit 27 off 25 balls to give Ireland an encouraging start to their innings - just as she did against Australia on Sunday - but she played across the line and that was to be a feature of the Ireland batting as the Pakistan spinners won the game with some comfort.