Shahid Afridi saves Pakistan from 2007 repeat

"The Pakistan-Ireland game in 2007 was in my mind. But I just told my boys that we are going out to win this game so don't let any negative factor affect your mind. Let's work hard and win," a relieved yet disappointed Afridi said after the match.

In the end, the 50-odd additional runs that Pakistan scored than the Ireland game made all the difference as Afridi, riding on his third successive man-of-the-match haul, guided his team to a 46-run victory.

With Pakistan still recovering from the spot-fixing scandal that resulted in three of their premier players being suspended by the game's governing body, a batting collapse, with Pakistan losing their last five wickets for 19 runs off 29 balls, the F-word was again doing the rounds at the stadium.

That's probably the reason Afridi was delighted with the great escape. "I knew what was in the offing had we lost the game," the leg-spinner said. Despite keeping one foot in the quarter-finals, Pakistan have been far from being convincing in their three victories so far. If their fielding let them down on Saturday against Sri Lanka, it was the batsmen who were guilty yesterday.

"Poor batting performance and poor shot selection. If we want to play good cricket against good teams, we should improve. I must say it's a good wake-up call for us," Afridi said.

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