Melbourne. Captain and opener Andy Balbirnie (62) scored a brilliant half-century and bowlers’ accurate performances helped qualifiers Ireland to defeat title contenders England in a rain-stopped Super-12 match of the ICC T20 World Cup at Duckworth Lewis on Wednesday. Under the rule, there was a panic after beating by five runs. Ireland set a challenging target for England by scoring 157 runs in 19.2 overs. Chasing the target, England had scored 105 for five in 14.3 overs that the game could not be possible due to rain. Ireland emerged victorious in the match by five runs. Balbirnie was declared the player of the match for his scintillating half-century. Balbirnie hit five fours and two sixes in his brilliant innings of 62 off 47 balls.
Interesting fact that Ireland defeated West Indies in the 2015 ODI world cup and also defeated West Indies in this T20 tournament and Ireland defeated England in the 2011 ODI world cup. And even today defeated England in this T20 tournament. The rain was getting stronger and hence it was decided to cancel the match. This meant Ireland won by five runs according to the Duckerth-Lewis method. The England players are a bit desperate. Ireland dominated but Moeen Ali kept England in the match. Luck favored Ireland and they registered a famous victory. Ireland players shake hands and pose for photos with fans. Josh Little (two wickets for 16 runs) was the star of this match. He presented excellent swing bowling and showed both the England openers Jos Buttler (0) and Alex Hales (7) the way to the pavilion. Ben Stokes (6) was clean bowled by Fin Hand on what a wonderful ball. Gareth Delany could have got three wickets but he missed two catches on his balls. Although it did not hit Ireland as heavily. Chasing the target, England lost their three wickets for just 29 runs. England’s innings did not pick up pace after that. England’s fourth wicket fell on the score of 67 and fifth wicket on 86. David Malan scored 35 runs off 37 balls while Harry Brooke was dismissed after scoring 18 runs.
Moeen Ali 24 and Liam Livingstone were unbeaten on one run when play was halted due to rain. Earlier, batting first after losing the toss, Ireland started well in the first 10 overs but could not continue it in the next 10 overs. England bowlers gave 92 runs for 1 wicket in the first 10 overs and gave only 65 runs for 8 wickets in the next 10 overs. Balbirnie hit five fours and two sixes in his brilliant innings of 62 off 47 balls and took the team to a challenging score. Lorcan Tucker contributed 34 runs off 27 balls. Curtis Kaempfer made 18 off 11 balls, Paul Stirling made 14 off eight balls and Gareth Delany made 12 not out off 10 balls. For England, Mark Wood and Liam Livingstone took three wickets each while Sam Karen got two wickets. (IANS)
