Cricket Highlights, 26 Oct: ICC T20 World Cup 2022 – Match 20 (IRE vs ENG) – BJ Sports

England and Ireland have met only once before today in the T20Is. The Irish bowlers shook England’s batting lineup in that match, which was in the 2010 T20 World Cup. England was bowled out for 120 runs, but Ireland did not win the match despite getting an easy target as the match was canceled due to rain.

But today in T20 World Cup because of that rain, England lost to Ireland by 5 runs in the Duckworth-Lewis method despite being in a convenient position.

Chasing Ireland’s 157 runs, England scored 105 runs in 14.3 overs. England then needed 110 runs under the DLS rule. As both the teams have batted at least 5 overs, the result of the match was to be seen as per the rules. The Irish won by 5 runs on the DLS rule as the game could not be resumed.

After losing the toss and batting first, Ireland got off to a great start. Paul Stirling got back at the team’s 21 runs, but Ireland was not under pressure. Andrew Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker’s 57-ball 82-run partnership put England under pressure. In the Powerplay, the Irish scored 59 runs. Balbirnie’s team reached 100 runs in 11.2 overs. There were still 9 wickets in hand. That is, the eyes of the Irish were then on the big score of 200 runs.

The first blow to that dream was Lorcan’s runout. Lorcan was run out scoring 34 off 27 balls. After the pair got broken, English captain Jos Buttler gave the ball to the team’s best bowler Mark Wood in the middle over to put more pressure on the Irish.

The in-form Wood did not disappoint. Harry Tector returned to the dressing room scoring no runs. Captain Balbirnie was pulling the team even after losing 2 wickets in a row. But here too, the gamble played by captain Buttler worked. When the ball was handed to part-time spinner Liam Livingstone, he sent Balbirnie back to the crease. George Dockrell was bowled on the very next ball.

In the end, neither Ireland batter could settle down at the crease. Therefore, the innings of the Irish stopped at 157 runs despite raising the possibility of making a big score. Balbirnie scored 62 runs off 47 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. Mark Wood and Liam Livingstone took 3 wickets each for England. Besides, Sam Curran took 2 wickets and Ben Stokes took 1 wicket.

Balbirnie’s team started well with the ball as well as the batting innings. Buttler was caught on the keeper’s hand while playing a cover drive off the second ball of the innings bowled by Joshua Little. Little also returns Alex Hales. Ben Stokes, one of the English all-rounders, could not rescue the team. He put the team in more danger by being bowled by Fionn Hand for 6 runs.

Harry Brook and Dawid Malan tried to pull England from there. England scored 63 runs for 3 wickets in the first 10 overs. England needed 95 runs in the last 10 overs. At that time, Ireland dropped the catches of Brook and Malan on the 2 consecutive balls of George Dockrell. But the day belonged to Ireland. So, they didn’t have to pay for the catch miss.

Brook found life once in the first ball of Dockrell’s over but could not capitalize on it. Brook was caught by Gareth Delany at mid-wicket off the fourth ball of the over. England fell further behind in the match. Malan also returned in the 14th over of the innings.

England needed 65 runs in the last 6 overs. Moeen Ali and Livingstone were at the crease. Moeen took 12 runs in the first 3 balls of the 15th over. Then it started to rain. England’s collection stood at 105 runs in 14.3 overs.

But in the Duckworth-Lewis system, England needed 110 runs to win. So despite being in a good position in the game, England lost by 5 runs.

Ireland – 157/10 (19.2)

England – 105/5 (14.3)

Result – Ireland won by 5 runs (D/L method – due to rain)

Player of the match – Andrew Balbirnie

IRE vs ENG Playing XIs