T20 World Cup: Dominant Ireland secure famous victory over England by five runs via DLS

Melbourne, Oct. 26 (IANS): A dominant Ireland sprung a huge upset in the ongoing T20 World Cup with a five-wicket victory over 2010 champions England by five runs via DLS method in a Group 1 match in Super 12 stage at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s win is also just the third victory for Ireland over England in men’s international cricket after ODI wins in Bengaluru 2011 (in the World Cup) and Southampton 2020 and also their first time win in T20Is too.

The five-run win over England also adds to Ireland’s incredible upswing in T20Is, after bowing out of last year’s T20 World Cup in the first round and then defeating West Indies in a decisive first-round match in Hobart to enter Super 12 stage this year.

After Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie (62 off 47 balls) and Lorcan Tucker (34 off 27 balls) strung an 82-run stand to help the side post a competitive 157 all out in 19.2 overs, pacer Joshua Little took out Jos Buttler and Alex Hales to reduce England to 24/2 in four overs, setting the base for a famous victory.

Brief scores: Ireland 157 all out in 19.2 overs (Andrew Balbirnie 62, Lorcan Tucker 34; Liam Livingstone 3/17, Mark Wood 3/34) beat England 105/5 in 14.3 overs (Dawid Malan 35, Moeen Ali 24 not out; Joshua Little 2/16, George Dockrell 1/5) by five runs (via DLS method).

New Zealand-Afghanistan match washed out due to rain

For the second time this week, a match was abandoned due to rain at the Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia. In the case of South Africa and Zimbabwe at Hobart, some play happened before rain Gods prevailed.

But on Wednesday, New Zealand and Afghanistan didn’t get to play, let alone come out at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the toss. Eventually, rain forced the abandonment of the Group 1 match in Super 12, with points split between both teams.

After their thumping 89-run victory over hosts’ and defending champions Australia in their tournament opener at Sydney, New Zealand, the Group 1 toppers, were expected to be in an engrossing clash with Afghanistan, who fought hard before going down to England by five wickets in Perth.

But with Ireland-England match still on, there was 30 minutes delay in the start of New Zealand-Afghanistan match. But with rain continuing to hammer down at the MCG, after Ireland got a famous five-run win via DLS method, the second match of the day went into the losing overs territory.

Rain relented, and with inspection at 8:20pm local time, there were hopes of a truncated match. But covers came back on the field as rain returned. With the inspection pushed to 9pm, many had a small glimmer of hope over the match taking place. But rain came again with full force, forcing the match to be officially abandoned without a ball being bowled.

The abandoned match and Ireland stunning England means Group 1 is now wide open. New Zealand remain on top of the group with three points due to their superior net run rate and would fancy their chances of entering the semifinals.

Their next match is against Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday, while Afghanistan will return to Melbourne on Friday to take on Ireland, before the decisive Australia-England match happens.