Pakistan beat Ireland by 39 runs in the World Twenty20 on Monday, but must wait on the result of Tuesday's game between Sri Lanka and New Zealand to see if it reaches the semifinals.

Kamran Akmal scored 57 to help Pakistan total 159-5, hitting five boundaries and a six in 51 balls, while Shahid Afridi was the next highest scorer with 24 from 13 balls.

Kyle McCallan took 2-26 to be the pick of the Irish attack that did well to limit the scoring in the Super 8 match at The Oval. Boyd Rankin took 0-11 off four overs, including 13 deliveries that didn't concede a single run.

Ireland was unable to keep up with the run rate, despite 40 from captain William Porterfield.

Kevin O'Brien made 26, but Saeed Ajmal took 4-19 and Umar Gul 2-19 as Ireland's finished on 120-9.

Pakistan captain Younis Khan won the toss and elected to bat, and the contrast between Ireland's opening bowlers was acute.

Rankin bowled with controlled aggression from the Vauxhall End and was unlucky not to take a wicket. But Trent Johnston struggled, bowling an accidental beamer at Akmal in the fourth over, which went for 20 runs.

He was replaced by Alex Cusack, who had taken four wickets on Sunday against Sri Lanka.

The switch immediately paid off when he had Shahzaib Hasan caught by McCallan at mid off in the sixth over.

Pakistan was 38-1 after the power-play, but Shahid Afridi joined Akmal and scored quickly before he was caught by John Mooney off McCallan in the 10th over.

Three overs later, Regan West bowled Younis' leg stump as the Pakistan captain tried to sweep.

Johnston returned from the Vauxhall End to bowl Akmal in the 17th over and Misbah-ul-Haq was caught by Niall O'Brien in the 18th, three balls after hitting Kyle McCallan for six over long on.

In the last over, Abdul Razzaq hit a six off Cusack that nearly cleared the Pavilion. He added 13 with Shoaib Malik from the final six balls, but Ireland was relatively satisfied with its damage-limitation exercise.

Restricting the target, however, proved a lot easier than actually chasing it down.

Ireland lost Niall O'Brien in the third over, caught and bowled by Mohammad Aamer, and were just 33-1 at the end of the powerplay, with the run rate already creeping up to nearly nine an over.

With last ball of the following over Afridi bowled Paul Stirling.

Porterfield and Kevin O'Brien reached 66-2 after 10 overs, but the former was caught by Khan off Ajmal in the 14th, with the score on 87-3 and Ireland needing two runs from every ball.

Razzaq dropped O'Brien off the second ball of the 16th over, bowled by Ajmal, but two balls later redeemed himself by holding on to an almost identical shot by John Mooney at long on.

With the first ball he faced in the next over Johnston's leg stump was sent spinning out of the ground by Gul.

Gul then bowled a no ball with the sixth ball of the over. The following delivery, a free hit, removed Andrew White's off stump, but Pakistan and most of the supporters forgot he couldn't be out and they scrambled a bye.

In the 18th over Ajmal had both O'Brien and Cusack stumped by Akmal and the collapse continued as Gul bowled White with the first ball of the next over.

Reagan West was run out two balls later and Ireland's gallant participation in the tournament ended when Rankin and McCallan failed to hit the 44 needed off the final over.

Pakistan will go through to the last four if Sri Lanka beats New Zealand at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, but a Kiwi victory could eliminate it on run rate.