Ireland produce major upset by defeating England in T20 WC
Ireland produced a major upset against England in Match 20 of the T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 Stage at the MCG on Wednesday, October 26 to keep the group wide open. Andrew Balbirnie was the star with the bat for Ireland as he played a captain’s innings of 47-ball 62 while Joshua Little’s early breakthroughs meant that the English side fell short by five runs as per the D/L method.
Earlier in the game, Ireland showed positive intent straightaway with the likes of Paul Stirling going after the bowling with a six and a four. His innings was short-lived as he was removed after an eight-ball 14 while Andrew Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker kept the scoreboard ticking with a flurry of boundaries. Their partnership of 82 for the second wicket set up Ireland for a big total and Balbirnie managed to get to the fifty-run milestone.
Tucker’s 27-ball 34 ended in an unfortunate run-out, while Harry Tector was removed for a two-ball duck. Curtis Campher hit three boundaries in his 11-ball 18 while George Dockrell was also dismissed for a duck. Wickets kept tumbling in the end as Ireland lost their way and were all out for 157 despite a fantastic start. Liam Livingstone and Mark Wood picked up three wickets each for England.
England’s top order gets rattled by Ireland bowlers
In reply, England faced an early setback with the danger man Jos Buttler going for a duck. Alex Hales and Ben Stokes did not hang around for too long either and were undone by some really good bowling. Harry Brook and Malan tried to get the innings going with a small partnership, however, the required rate started to creep up.
Brook was dismissed after a struggling knock of 21-ball 18 while Malan was dismissed for a 37-ball 35 which did not help England’s chances. Moeen Ali hit some lusty blows once he arrived to the crease and it looked like the game would go down to the wire but rain had other ideas. With plenty of time lost to rain earlier, the D/L method came into play and England suffered a defeat by just five runs.
