[ad_1]
Ireland 157 (Balbirnie 62, Wood 3-34, Livingstone 3-17) beat England 105 for 5 in 14.3 overs (Malan 35, Little 2-16) by five runs on DLS method
Though Moeen Ali threated a late fightback, marked by a straight six in the 15th over, England were five runs behind on DLS when rain came down once again. It got heavier soon after and by 6.50pm, the game ended with Ireland’s players celebrating a monumental victory with their fans and family in the rain.
After rain had played hide and seek earlier in the afternoon as well, Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie dashed out of the blocks, like they have often done in the recent past.
Stirling smeared Chris Woakes over extra-cover and then spliced Mark Wood’s first ball over the third-man boundary, with Sam Curran’s effort to scoop it back in proving futile. Two balls later, Stirling backed away and tried to repeat the shot, but Wood cranked it up to 150kph, tucked him up, and had him splicing it straight to Curran.
Lorcan Tucker, who is usually strong against spin, then showed that he could cut it against the pace and bounce of Wood and Woakes on a spicy pitch. Tucker closed out the powerplay with a punchy six off Curran, pushing Ireland up to 59 for 1 in six overs.
Wood’s extra pace, Livingstone’s lack of pace
After Livingstone gave away just five runs off his first over, England broke the 82-run second-wicket partnership when Adil Rashid deflected a straight drive from Balbirnie back onto the stumps at his end in his follow through to catch Tucker short for 34 off 27 balls.
Wood returned to the attack in the next over and ambushed Harry Tector with a 153kph thunderbolt. Wood continued to bowl in the 150-kph range, knocking Curtis Campher and Delany on their helmets.
As for Livingstone, he mixed up his pace well and dared Ireland’s batters to clear the bigger boundaries at the MCG. He had Balbirnie caught at deep square leg in the 16th over and cleaned up George Dockrell next ball to trigger a full-blown collapse. From 132 for 3 in the 16th over, Ireland crashed to 157 all out, leaving four balls unused in their innings.
Little’s big moment
Little started Ireland’s defence in grand fashion by besting Buttler for a duck. He and Adair bowled much fuller than England’s seamers did with the new ball earlier in the day. After also testing Hales with the fuller length, Little dug one into the pitch and drew a top-edged pull to short fine leg for 7. He went onto handcuff Malan with his tactful length variations and use of angles.
Little is the new face of Ireland’s attack, having had franchise cricket stints at the Hundred (Manchester Originals), the Lanka Premier League (Dambulla Giants) and even the IPL (net bowler at Chennai Super Kings), and he stepped up on the big stage against England.
Malan laboured to 35 off 37 balls before McCarthy had him miscuing a pull. Brook managed only five runs off nine balls against Delany before he also holed out, failing to clear the boundary.
Ireland were untidy in the field, dropping two catches off two balls at the start of the 11th over, but their bowling was anything but. Moeen was onto something when he hit three fours and a six in seven (legal) balls, but it wasn’t enough to pull England ahead when the rain returned.
[ad_2]
Source link
