That became seven out of ten here when David Langford-Smith found his range off the last ball of his opening over and Muhammed Hafeez slipped it to the keeper.

The Irish attack bowled with verve and were able to gain plenty of movement and bounce off a very green pitch.

Veteran West Indies journalists said they had never seen a track as green as this and speculated it was the groundstaff 's gift to the Irish for St Patrick's Day. Boyd Rankin was a revelation and discomfited men with 50 times his experience and claimed the wicket of Younis Khan, one of Pakistan's 'big three'' in his second over.

Pakistan passed 50 in the 11th over, after which Ireland made a double bowling change.

Trent Johnston's uncanny skill for making changes hit the jackpot - he claimed the prize scalp of Mohammed Yousuf himself and when Andre Botha found the edges of Imran and Inzamam's bats Pakistan were 66-5.

When former Limavady pro Kamran Akmal briefly threatened to take the initiative back, Johnston recalled Rankin and the Bready giant's extra bounce accounted for Mahmood and Akmal in his first over.

As Irish fans started to whisper about victory - and make plans for the second phase - an elderly gentleman in the pavilion was chuckling away to himself. Maurice Foster knows all about being humiliated by Irish bowlers on emerald green wickets - he was a member of the West Indies side that lost to Ireland on that famous day in 1969 when Alec O'Riordan and Dougie Goodwin bowled them out for 25.