DUBLIN: Misbah ul-Haq has told his Pakistan team they must improve in all three departments ahead tomorrow’s series decider with Ireland.

Kevin O’Brien hit a dramatic four off the last ball of the first one-day international on Thursday to deny Pakistan victory and earn Ireland a dramatic tie — the 28th in ODI history.

“Full credit to Ireland. They needed almost 10 an over for the last 12 overs but they batted well and we know we will have to improve our performance,” said Misbah.

In contrast, Ireland got so close to their victory target of 276 in 47 overs that the tie felt like a loss, according to O’Brien, whose unbeaten 84 was his highest score for Ireland since his century masterminded the shock of the 2011 World Cup, when the Irish defeated England in Bangalore.

“To come so close and not get over the line is tough to take but when we have time to reflect I suppose it will be easier to take,” said O’Brien.

“Irish cricket is ever improving, we just need to get a bit more consistency. Everyone knows we are a good team, we just need to put five, six, seven good performances in a row.

“We definitely feel we can win the series. We respect Pakistan, they are a great team but we have nothing to fear having come so close here, we know a different bounce of the ball and we come out with a victory and that’s what we will be targeting on Sunday.” In contrast, Pakistan were trying to take the positives from a game they were always winning until the last ball of the game.

They hit 144 off the last 16 overs, after the fourth and final rain delay of the match, to reach 266 for five with Mohammad Hafeez scoring 122 not out, and would have been confident of defending Ireland’s revised target of 276.

In cold conditions, Paul Stirling got Ireland off to the perfect start with a 102-ball century but Mohammad Irfan got his wicket just five balls later and Hafeez finished with two for 34, the best bowling of the match. Crucially, Irfan dropped O’Brien on 19 and that was the miss that ensured an exciting finish.

Washed out

In Leeds, Yorkshire chief executive Mark Arthur was hopeful crowds would flock to Headingley after the first day of the second and final Test between England and New Zealand in Leeds yesterday was washed out completely.

Heavy overnight and early morning rain delayed the scheduled 11am local (1000GMT) start and, after several showers Friday, the umpires abandoned play for the day shortly before 4pm (1500GMT) without a ball bowled.

“Disappointment is the word. It’s disappointing for everyone at Headingley, for the supporters and for the cricketers,” Arthur told reporters.

“In cricket you learn to accept you have days like this and you get on and deal with it,” Arthur, appointed earlier this month, said.

However, he added: “The forecast for the next three days is very good and we’re very fortunate that we have a Bank Holiday weekend so it’s a chance for the public to turn up and enjoy some cricket “Hopefully we can still get a really good Test match here. We’ve sold about 12,000 (tickets) already for tomorrow (Saturday) and with the weather forecast and walk-up sales it could look pretty good,” he said with Headingley’s capacity for this match some 16,000 seats.

“The further north you travel from Lord’s you tend to get that walk-up attitude because people are aware of the vagaries of the weather.”