T20 World Cup 2022, Gr 1, IRE v ENG: Ireland beat 2nd-ranked side in T20Is, England at MCG
ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022, Super 12, Group 1, Ireland vs England: Andy Balbirnie's 62, Liam Livingstone's 3-17 and Josh Little's 2-16 are top performances as Ireland beat 2nd-ranked side in T20Is, England at MCG in Super 12s game.
Brief Scores: Ireland 157 (Balbirnie 62, Tucker 34, Livingstone 3/17, Wood 3/34) beat England 105/5 (14.3 ov, Target:111) (Malan 35, Moeen 24*, Little 2/16) by 5 runs (DLS method)
Player of the Match: Andrew Balbirnie (62 runs in 47 balls)
England, who were high on confidence from their five-wicket victory in the opening Super 12 game against Afghanistan, locked horns with Ireland, who were blown away in their opening encounter against Sri Lanka. The fifth Group 1 game of the Super 12 stage of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 was held at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Stadium (MCG) in Melbourne on Wednesday.
The only T20I that both these sides had participated in earlier had ended without a result.
England bowlers lacked intensity against bold Ireland
England were excellent in their opening game against Afghanistan, but against Ireland lacked a little bit of intensity. They were flat in the first 10 overs with ball in hand going too short on a pitch that was helping the bowlers who had the nous to pitch it up. They were also bowling boundary balls regularly in the innings.
On the flipside of the coin, Ireland were brave with the bat as they scored freely using the supreme speed of the England bowlers.
Ireland bag famous victory against England with help from rain
England captain Jos Buttler on winning the toss opted to field first expecting some help from the pitch under grey skies. While Ireland brought in Fionn Hand in place of Simi Singh, England went into the game with the same playing eleven from their last game.
Even though Ireland lost opener Paul Stirling early in the innings, captain Andrew Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker shared a decent 82-run stand for the second wicket to take Ireland to 103/2 in 12 overs. England spinners bowled in the right channels while the pace of Mark Wood was too hot to handle for the opponents as Ireland fell like a pack of cards to be bundled out for 157 in 19.2 overs.
Defending a below average total, Ireland were excellent in the beginning reducing England to 37/3 in the powerplay before England strolled their way to 63/3 in 10 overs. Wickets were falling from one end as constant threat of rain was making it hard for England and when it finally came down with full intensity, Ireland came victorious by 5 runs according to the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method.
Let’s scan the top three performances from the game between England and Ireland from ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.