Ireland earn remarkable last-ball win against Pakistan
Jane Maguire was the hero as she hit a six off her first delivery at the crease to deliver victory for the Irish team, who continue a nine-game winning streak in the format.
Advertisement
Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first under some light cloud cover with a strong breeze blowing across the ground.
Having lost the opening T20I by 11 runs on Wednesday, the visitors needed a victory to keep the series alive ahead of the final match at the same venue on Sunday.
Batting more aggressively, Pakistan eventually went on to post 168-6.
The key Irish bowlers were Lara McBride (2-27), Cara Murray (2-33) and Orla Prendergast (1-22), who took her 50th wicket in T20Is for Ireland.
The hosts then scored 171-6 to win by four wickets. The key batters were Orla Prendergast (51), Laura Delany (42) and Player of the Match Rebecca Stokell (34).
But the key moment was the final delivery, and Maguire's first at the wicket, which was hit for six down the ground to get across the line.
You can view the full scorecard here.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Irish Examiner
43 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Cathal Murray: We knew we'd have to run ourselves into the ground and we did
Galway manager Cathal Murray said there was huge hurt in the Galway camp after last year's three-point defeat to Cork and it provided one of the motivation factors for Sunday's All-Ireland success. 'Cork were the better team last year. We got most things right and put in a massive, massive performance and probably didn't take our opportunities at the finish. We were probably never going well, always struggling, even through the group stages. 'We really targeted the Dublin game at the start of this championship. We've grown and grown. This year, we have huge belief because we beat Dublin, Derry, Kilkenny in Nowlan Park, Waterford, we beat Tipperary by seven or eight points in the semi-final. You're battle-hardened coming into an All-Ireland final and you know if it comes down to moments like that you have the players to step up. 'They are an unbelievable bunch. I know we won two All-Irelands in '19 and '21. You want to kick on and win a third. A third All-Ireland means so much to this group. We've won three All-Irelands now in seven years. 'Aoife (Donohue), Starry (Annmarie), Ailish (O'Reilly) are picking a fourth All-Ireland medal - that doesn't happen around Galway, they're like hens' teeth. 'We knew training was on the money for the last eight, or nine or 10 weeks. We just backed ourselves.' Murray also pointed to an article in Saturday's Irish Examiner. 'We were written off completely. The Irish Examiner yesterday, any Galway person or player reading that - our player ratings - go back and read it and it is absolutely fucking insulting. I thought it was the biggest insult ever. But that is coming out for the last week, two weeks, we were given no chance. "We knew we were three points off in 2023, and three points off last year. "Small percentages.' Their league form, it transpired, was also misleading. 'We probably got to the league final because other teams probably didn't do their job. We were never really going at full pelt, we won two or three of our games by just a point or two. We probably didn't have the work done, that was down to ourselves as management, there were different things in the camp that weren't in place in time. 'We went back late, we just needed that break after last year, it was so gutting. I probably said I was stepping away in the dressing room last year after the match, but in the two or three days after it, the team, you just knew there was such a good group of players there and a real bond. There was no giving out, there were no people feeling sorry for themselves. It was disappointing, but they took it on the chin as a team. 'They've just been exceptional, since we played Tipperary back in a challenge match in early June, we've just been exceptional since. Thank God we pulled it off today, it could have gone either way – Cork are unbelievable champions, they're an incredible team. To come within a puck of a ball to winning three in a row, it's hard on them today but I've huge respect for them. 'I've huge respect for the management. To be down to 14 players just before half time, and give the performance they gave in the second half. Their selector said it to me there, we [Galway] played unbelievable. We had to play unbelievable. It's a mark of how good they are. We're just delighted for ourselves, as I said, that third All-Ireland – it's just, I don't know, does it copper fasten how good we've been. Three All-Ireland's in seven years is massive.' The difference in the end was Carrie Dolan's monster free from out the field and by the sideline. 'Some way to win it, obviously when you're on the back foot which you were for a lot of the second half to be honest with you. When they levelled it with the goal, it was a massive point in the game that puck-out, and that resilience to win it. But we've shown that resilience all year to be honest with you. 'We are four players down from last year's All-Ireland final - missing the likes of Niamh Kilkenny, Niamh Hanniffy, Niamh McPeake, Áine Keane. Róisín Black missed most of the year. Ailish O'Reilly was missing for the last two group games which were massive games. 'Girls just stepped up at different moments. We were probably guilty ourselves last year of not using our bench enough. I thought the bench made a massive impact today. I thought Sabina (Rabbitte) made a huge impact. Everyone, Jennifer (Hughes), Emma (Helebert) came out with two great balls and Ally (Hesnan). 'Listen, we knew we'd have to battle. We knew we'd have to run ourselves into the ground and we did. 'That was the moment, Carrie's free and I'm delighted for her. She is our leader for a reason, she is captain for a reason, she is a leader. It's moments like that we value her so much.' While he did consider walking away after last year's final, his mind changed. 'I don't know if it was a couple of days after, you know, but that was a big part of it. Maybe unfinished business,' he said. 'When we look back on it, as management, we felt we got an awful lot right. The players, they just performed unbelievable, and there's always just that regret that it just wasn't the right time to walk away. 'Obviously, we're proved right now. 'I'm training some of the best players that will ever play camogie for Galway. And that's a massive place to be. We've been in 11 finals out of a possible 13 in the last seven years. We've been in Croke Park so many times, I'm living the dream, to be honest with you. 'But like, I have two young kids at home - nine months and three and a half. On a Monday and a Wednesday, I'm leaving, I owe an awful lot to my wife, Ashling, she's putting two kids to bed, I'm going off training, you know, so, listen, for me, I absolutely love this, but, you know, young family at home, so obviously there's something I have to discuss there, and something I have to talk about. 'Working with these is just incredible, but it is hard on the family as well, and as I said, I owe a huge amount to my wife, but it's a savage job and I just love doing it.'


The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Ger Manley slams ‘shocking' refereeing as Cork fall short in All-Ireland camogie final
Cork manager Ger Manley launched a furious attack on referee Justin Heffernan after their All-Ireland final loss to Galway GER MANLEY blasted referee Justin Heffernan for what the Cork boss felt was a 'shocking' performance in his side's All-Ireland senior camogie final defeat to Galway. The Rebels had a numerical handicap for the majority of their three-in-a-row bid after midfielder Hannah Looney was shown a red card late in the first half. Advertisement 2 Cork manager Ger Manley took aim at referee Justin Heffernan for what the Cork boss felt was a 'shocking' performance 2 Galway defeated Manley's side to reclaim the All-Ireland title Manley fumed: 'The decisions that went against us were very disappointing. It's not sour grapes really, I just thought the referee had a very poor match. 'I don't like knocking refs but I thought he had a very poor game. I know it's a tough game but some of the decisions that went against us, it seemed to be one rule for one team and another rule for the next.' Looney's dismissal for an off-the-ball clash with Carrie Dolan, as well as Kate Wall's foul that handed Dolan a late winning free, were both 'very harsh' decisions, according to Manley. The Cork gaffer reckoned Clodagh Finn should have been awarded a free in the closing stages, while also bemoaning the amount of additional time played. Advertisement However, he was particularly irked by Heffernan's failure to spot a foul on Cork goalkeeper Amy Lee that led to a first-half point for Caoimhe Kelly. Manley said: "In a tight game like that, small things win matches. Anyone who saw the push on Amy Lee, we'd nearly need to be looking for VAR. "If that was in a soccer match, it would have been cancelled out." "We have honest players and she didn't dive. She was blatantly pushed. You could see it on the screen." Advertisement Facing a five-point deficit at the interval, Manley's side drew level in the final minute of normal time through an Orlaith Cahalane goal. However, Dolan's free gave Galway their first O'Duffy Cup since 2021. The Cork chief said: "I give huge credit to Galway. They brought a huge attitude. We struggled a bit in the first half. I thought we were a bit off it. But we kept at it. 'Aged like milk on a windowsill in July' - Watch BBC's GAA pundits ALL predict Donegal to beat Kerry 'I thought a few things went against us. The sending-off was very harsh. I thought it was just physical contact. It was in front of me I suppose but I'd like to see it again. 'But I thought Justin had a shocking game as a referee. The last one, the one that won the game, was a dive. Advertisement 'Look, Galway deserved it. I'm not taking away from them. They had huge hunger, huge everything. "I was so proud of our girls because the second half was unbelievable. I thought we were the better team in the second half.'

The 42
an hour ago
- The 42
Teehan helps Offaly outlast Kerry to claim intermediate glory
Offaly 0-14 Kerry 0-11 THE TENSION OF a Glen Dimplex All-Ireland final was evident in what was a defensive and error-ridden battle between Offaly and Kerry, but on a day when an array of forwards that have illuminated the intermediate championship so far were largely kept under lock and key by their markers, Grace Teehan brought the perfect mix of talent and tenacity to drive Offaly back up to senior championship competition. Teehan registered four points from play and earned three more converted frees, producing her biggest moments in the closing stages when everyone else – on both sides – seemed to have lost the ability to find the target in the face of suffocating defensive play. Had Offaly let it slip, they would have been haunted by their tally of 13 wides and another handful of shots dropped short, though Kerry will look back at the game's most clearcut goal chance midway through the second half as their 'sliding doors' moment. Jackie Horgan's seismic battle with Amy Byrne was one of the defining individual contests throughout the game and the Kingdom stalwart finally shook off the shackles of her Faithful follower before whipping a shot off her left from 12 metres out. Emer Reynolds – who has made the Offaly custodian position her own since getting a chance against Westmeath midway through the summer - got a strong block and then reacted sharply to put off Amy O'Sullivan from knocking the sliotar into the net from a few metres out. Advertisement Ellen O'Donoghue took a point from the loose ball that followed but it was Kerry's best chance to take a lead, and instead they were always that point or two adrift, even if Offaly couldn't relax until team captain Orlagh Phelan collected the last long, hopeful Kerry delivery in the sixth minute of stoppage time, the last action before referee Donnacha O'Callaghan confirmed their win. For the opening six minutes, the Offaly attack looked every bit like the side that scored 12-71 in five games up to the final. Clodagh Leahy split the uprights from the Hogan Stand side of the pitch on the very first attack and difficult positions were to prove no obstacle to her as she also found the target with two frees, one from each touchline. A Patrice Diggin reply was quickly followed by Mairéad Teehan emerging out of heavy traffic at centre forward to split the uprights, but Kerry stemmed the bleeding from there, aided by the midlanders missing the target with their next three attempts. Diggin, Caoimhe Spillane and Niamh Leen got around the breaks on the Offaly puckout and the decision to play just two inside forwards with O'Donoghue coming back to the midfield sector added to Kerry's edge in that crucial battle. Jackie Horgan exploited the space that was left close to goal by getting out in to register one point of her own and to win two frees that were converted by Diggin. By the time Leahy struck Offaly's next point from a 45 the momentum had been stripped from the Offaly attack and it was Kerry who continued to enjoy that bit more primary possession, even if they struggled to convert it into clearcut chances at the other end. Two superb Grace Teehan points and another long-range effort from Ellen Regan ensured Offaly held the narrowest of leads at the break, though Amy Byrne and Róisín Kinsella both had to come up with big defensive plays to prevent Amy O'Sullivan and Kate Lynch from adding further scores. The defensive dominance at both ends was turned up to 11 on the dial after half-time when the first eight minutes passed without a score. Aoife Fitzgerald came up with a vital save to parry Mairéad Teehan's goal attempt and Diggin duly levelled the game from a 45 a minute later, but as was the case so many times during this game, when Offaly's need was greatest, Grace Teehan came up with a vital score in reply. A mere 0-2 each was added to the scoreboard over the next 17 minutes, but the last five minutes once again belonged to Teehan as she fired over two points either side of winning a free that Clodagh Leahy pointed to see Offaly home. SCORERS FOR OFFALY: C Leahy 0-7 (0-4f, 0-1 45), G Teehan 0-5 (0-1f), M Teehan 0-1, E Regan 0-1. SCORERS FOR KERRY: P Diggin 0-8 (0-6f, 0-1 45), J Horgan 0-1, K Lynch 0-1, E O'Donoghue 0-1. OFFALY: E Reynolds; A Liffey, A Byrne, M King; E Regan, R Kinsella, O Phelan; C Cleary, S Shanahan; F Dooley, M Teehan, G Teehan; C Leahy, C Maher, K Pilkington. Subs: F Mulrooney for Maher (33), C Fogarty for King (47), O Kilmartin for Pilkington (50), K Kennedy for Liffey (58), C O'Donovan for Cleary (60) KERRY: A Fitzgerald; M Costello, S Murphy, R McCarthy; R Quinn, N Leen, A Behan; P Diggin, C Spillane; AM Leen, K Lynch, R O'Connor; E O'Donoghue, J Horgan, A O'Sullivan. Subs: S Collins for AM Leen (half-time), K Ryan for O'Sullivan (50), E Conway for O'Donoghue (60) REFEREE: Donnacha O'Callaghan (Limerick).