…which means that is us. Thanks for your company and comments – ta-ra.
Here’s Simon Burnton’s match report…
So on Friday, it’s Australia v England, at the MC expletive G, in what’s almost a quarter-final. Of course we’ll be bringing you that, and play starts at 6.30pm local, 8.30pm BST.
Why do the ICC make their commentators wear identical minging blazers? Is minging blazers tautology? Morgan talks about the job of a leader to steady things – how England must wish they still had him to do that – and Jos Buttler has a decision to make, I think, about whether to stick with Woakes or try Mills. Also, given the conditions – big boundaries, juicy pitches – I wonder if they wish Joe Root was knocking about.
“Lord Nelson, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden, Clement Attlee, Henry Cooper. Maggie Thatcher, can you hear me?” wonders Niall Mullen. “Maggie Thatcher, your boys took a hell of an unsatisfying five-run defeat on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method!”
Ah, you’re a harsh man. A proper finish and crescendo would’ve been nice, but England were well-beaten there; Ireland earned the arse out of it.
Balbirnie will get most of the plaudits and rightly so. But Lorcan Tucker’s 34 off 27 was also crucial, because without it that electrifying start just doesn’t happen – it was the assault from both batters that hurled Ireland into the match – and was cemented by the way Josh Little bowled first up.
Ah there, it’s so moving to see stuff like this go down – people rising to the biggest occasion of their lives, then enjoying the times of their lives, for which they’ve been working for so long. We should all know that feeling, but given we won’t, there’s nothing better than glorying in the glory of others.
Andy Balbirnie is man of the match for his 62 off 47 – though he also captained superbly – and says he knew his side could compete. He’s happy with how they batted and is emotional having never played at the G before, never mind in front of family, friends and a global audience. They had a great week in Hobart, some supporters have extended their stay, and he’s delighted that the win can help grow the game in Ireland. His men are also back on Friday, to take on Afghanistan.
Stood under a brolly, Buttler tells Nasser he thinks England lost the match primarily in the first 10 overs. His men weren’t consistent enough, allowing runs on both sides of the wicket armed with the advantage of winning the toss and knowing there was weather about. Ireland showed England how to bowl on that track, he reckons, though he also chastises himself for getting out in the first over and concludes that, ultimately, his team were outplayed. So, he’s excited for the the Australia game on Friday which looks like being a straight knockout. Not bad.
Listening to Eoin Morgan stood in a blazer, you get the feeling England missed him today. Buttler has a great cricket brain and plenty of composure, but he doesn’t quite have Morgan’s authority or experience of authority plus, from behind the stumps, doesn’t, perhaps, have quite the same scope to speak to his bowlers. Other hand, Ireland have missed Morgan for a decade and more, so.
As for England, they’ll know they played poorly today – Mark Wood said as much at half-time. Their bowling up front wasn’t good enough – though let’s also congratulate the intention and intensity of Ireland’s batting – then kept the heid when they ended up with a lower score than looked likely. They bowled really well too, and Andy Balbirnie did a great job deploying the right bowlers at the right time while his fielders, though they dropped chances, held the ones they really needed too under pressure – of their own making, but nevertheless.
It’s a shame we didn’t get a full match, but there was every sign that Ireland would close it out. Moeen was just opening up, it’s true, but Ireland were bowling with great control and composure. They go to the boundary and celebrate with their fans in the ground, hugs and kisses all round, and this is beautiful to see.
IRELAND HAVE BEATEN ENGLAND BY FIVE RUNS (DLS)! WHAT A WIN FOR THE BOYS IN GREEN!
And you can’t say they haven’t deserved it! It’s been a brilliant performance from them, again, and I’m already envious of the night they’re going to have. But this is a serious cricket team, let’s not pretend to the contrary, and they’ve made their own history, their own Bangalore! Glorious stuff, glorious, glorious cricket!
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“A Dickens quote!” says John Starbuck. “Can you manage any more before the game ends?”
“The weather is dull and wet, and the long lines of street lamps are blurred, as if we saw them through tears” is the best I can do, though i can’t pretend it was at my synapses’ fingertips. BUT THE RAIN IS GETTING HEAVIER!
The rain isn’t as heavy now, but the England playing are nervously patrolling the boundary, trying to see from where the rain is coming. They’ve got six minutes to save themselves; Ireland are six minutes from ecstasy.
This has been such a game of cricket. Ireland were fantastic at the start, England fought back well at the back end of the innings, Ireland have bowled well and England have batted poorly. It’ll be a shame if we don’t get the staggering denouement for which we looked set, but that’s this thing of ours.
The players must be back on by 18.56 local, 8.56 BST
Oh my days, it’s all going on here.If they can’t restart in the next 11 minutes, by 56 past the hour, the game is over. And, given how heavy the rain is, my money is on that being the outcome!
RAIN STOPS PLAY
England are five short of where they need to be and, for those who missed the start, we lost more or less our full half-hour of grace. If we don’t get back on, Ireland win, and they’ll have an even better shot than they do now if we play a shortened match.
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15th over England 105-5 (Ali 24, Livingstone 1) Target 158 Delaney continues and Moeen mows him back over his head and over the shortest boundary, for six! Is this the over in which England assert themselves? Well, two to point follows, then Moeen takes a big step down, heaves over mid off, and that’s four. BUTTHE RAIN IS CANING DOWN, THE UMPIRES TAKE THE PLAYERS OFF, AND WE’RE SURELY GOING TO LOSE TIME AND OVERS! ENGLAND ARE MILES BEHIND THE RATE, AND MIGHT THIS SETTLE THE MATCH?
14th over England 93-5 (Ali 12, Livingstone 1) Target 158 This is the partnership, you’d think. Curran and Woakes can properly bat, but with the rate almost at 11, you’d not back them; you’d not the current pair either. Can Ireland embrace the pressure? well, after a single to set Livingstone away, bookended by dots, Moeen clatters four over mid off – he is so terrifyingly composed – and following a wide, the final ball of the over leaps off a length and kisses Moeen a painful hello on the shoulder. England need 65 runs from 36 balls.
WICKET! Malan c Hand b McCarthy 35 (England 86-5)
CLKNOBNKJABEKJABSE! Malan, who’s had a painful time trying to force things he’s not timing, flings hands at a cut, top-edges instead, and Hand hangs on low at deep third! WHAT ARE WE SEEING HERE!
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13th over England 86-4 (Malan 35, Ali 8) Target 158 You’d expect England’s lefties to go at Delany and Malan tries a slog-sweep but only manages one to square leg; Moeen then does similar to long on. Three more singles follow, the batters just not timing it, and keeping on the leggie looks a great move from Balbirnie. But then the final delivery of the over, full on off, is in the slot for Moeen, who times a gorgeous drive down the ground for a painfully-needed four. England need 72 runs from 42 balls.
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12th over England 77-4 (Malan 33, Ali 2) Target 158 Scenting the match, Balbirnie brings Little back and Moeen turns another single away behind square on the on side. This is so expletive expletive tense, what a thing this thing of ours is. Malan tries a pull and edges for four; the man picked partly for his expertise on true, bouncy tracks such as this one just can’t get going. A single, a wide, a leg bye and a single complete the over, and if England lose this they’ll have to beat Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka to progress. England need 81 runs from 48 balls.
11th over England 68-4 (Malan 26, Ali 1) Target 158 Moeen turns to backward square for one. What larks, dear old Pip, dear old chap! England need 90 runs from 54 balls.
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Brook c Delany b Dockrell 187 (England 67-4)
Brook slashes to deep point, at Hobart it’s six but this is the G, and Delany holds a real groin-swallower to send ireland into raptures! THIS IS ON!
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11th over England 67-3 (Malan 26, Brook 18) Target 158 Dockerell into the attack and Brook has seen enough, forcing a swipe to long on and Adair is there! But he gets a headrush, charges in, and has to grab over his shoulder a ball that would’ve plopped into his midriff! They run one, eventially – Brookdidn’t bother to begin with because he thought he was gone – then Malan makes room and slices to deep point with Delany running in … but he drops it as well! That’s two in two, three today, and and 10 in the tournament! They run two, then a single to deep square follows….
10th over England 63-3 (Malan 23, Brook 17) Target 158 Hand returns with a leg-side wide, but the way he reacts suggests he’s not displeased with it; rather, just a little bit straighter and he reckons Malan was his. So next ball, Malan pulls … but mistimes it, relieved to see it loop up and drop into an unguarded midwicket. They run one, bringing Brook onto strike, and after missing with a forward defensive, he drives classily through cover for a first four in 17 deliveries. He and England needed that, likewise the wide that comes next then, when Brook twizzles to backward square, he has to really sprint the second run; a flatter return, and he was gawn. A single ends the over making 10 from it, England’s most profitable of the innings, and it’s like we’ve gone back in time. England need 95 runs from 60 balls.
9th over England 53-3 (Malan 22, Brook 10) Target 158 Delany returns, and dare Brook go at it? He’s not done as well against leg spin as he has other styles, and three dots to open the over amp up the pressure. So he forces to mid on for one, and England need more of that: the score ticking to give the hitters scope at the end. But Ireland are bowling early doors as well as they batted early doors; can they hold it down more effectively? For now, the answer is yes, a wide followed by a single and a two, both to midwicket; the first for Malan, the second for Book.
8th over England 48-3 (Malan 21, Brook 7) Target 158 McCarthy returns and Brook turns a single to midwicket as the run-rate inches towards nine. I guess you’d back these two, then Moeen and Livingstone, to see England home, but another wicket or two for Ireland and the cat will be well and truly pigeoned. a wide and another single follow, then McCarthy follows Brook as he backs away to pull, and when the final ball of the over goes to deep point for one, that’s just four off it and the required rate up to 9.16. This is boiling.
7th over England 44-3 (Malan 20, Brook 5) Target 158 I’m buzzing to see how Brook handles this, and right now, this is the spin of Delany, Balbirnie cleverly looking to fiddle a few overs when the batters don’t really have scope to get after it.Ttwo dots to start, then, then a twizzle to fine leg for one before Malan edges a yorker through where slip isn’t and to the third-man fence for the first boundary since the third over. a single to Brook completes the over.
6th over England 37-3 (Malan 15, Brook 3) Target 158 Harry Brook, what say you?! Not a lot when the first delivery he faces rips past his attempted cut … but he’s s seriously solid character and cuts the second for three. A wide follows, then a leg bye, then a two into the on side, and Ireland have absolutely nailed this powerplay.
“It’s squeaky-bum time already! “ tweets Andrew Benton. “Gripping stuff...”
Believe. I’m half-stood at my non-standing desk (yes, I know you know I don’t have one, could there be anything less OBO?)
WICKET! Stokes b Hand 6 (England 29-3)
FIONN HAND, THAT IS AN ABSOLUTE NUT! It’s on a length, swinging late and seaming back in before lasering through the gate without leaving a mark, as Stokes flows into a delightful air-drive! We have got ourselves a ball-game and a half!
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6th over England 29-2 (Malan 13, Stokes 6) Target 158 Eeesh, Hand come on and begins with a massive leg-side wide.
5th over England 28-2 (Malan 13, Stokes 6) Target 158 Adair returns at Little’s end, moustache bristling as he charges in. His first two balls go for singles, but his third, to Malan from around, is exactly what he’s seeking to deliver, just outside off, and his fourth is similar, inciting Malan to fence; he misses. A run-down to third for one follows, then an edge for one more into the on side, and the rate is up to 8.66.
4th over England 24-2 (Malan 11, Stokes 4) Target 158 McCarthy replaces Adair and Malan turns his first ball to deep square for one, then Stokes, bent almost double, controls two to backward square. In a way, this reminds me of the match England lost to Sri Lanka at the 50-over World Cup; they’re chasing a total that sensible batting should see them get with something to spare, except to do that would be to change the approach that has served them so well. After that defeat, Morgan surmised that his team had deviated from their agreed method and played safe and he should know – at the time, I remember thinking they’d been unnecessarily wild. Anyhow, Malan presses three towards deep point, then a single, a wide and a single follow; England have stabilised somewhat.
3rd over England 14-2 (Malan 6, Stokes 0) Target 158 It’s a real Ben Stokes situation, this: time to settle before chucking hands. If Ireland can get him, they’re in serious business.
WICKET! Hales c Adair b Little 7 (England 14-2)
NO MORE CHANCES! Hales looks to pull a short one, toe-ends high, and Adair is solid as you like underneath a real stomach-swallower. England are under the pump, and you cannot look away from this match!
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3rd over England 14-1 (Hales 7, Malan 6) Target 158 There’s decent encouragement for the bowlers out there; Hales flicks four through midwicket, then plays and misses when one leaves him, before cutting hard to point! Delany flings up a hand … and the ball bursts through it as the batters run two.
2nd over England 8-1 (Hales 1, Malan 6) Target 158 Adair opens from the other end and Malan lifts his loosener over mid on for three, then Hales takes one. In comms, Morgan agrees with Wood that England were below-par with the ball, and we cut to Woakes shaking his head, perhaps because he’s still thinking about his 0-41, perhaps because there’s a fly in his eye. I wonder if he’ll keep his spot in the side as the matches get more intense, but in the meantime there’s plenty going on in this one, Malan pulling two to mid on before Adair sends down a beauty of an inswinger that beats the bat on the inside; Malan nods twice in approval.
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1st over England 0-1 (Hales 0, Malan 0) Target 158 What a moment that must be for Josh Little! Twenty-two years old, and an all-time great batter back in the hutch, second ball! He might be a bit over-excited, though – I mean I am, and I’m definitely not him – following wicket with wide. Three dots follow, then a bit of extra bounce has Malan off his feet, gloving around the corner for one.
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WICKET! Buttler c Tucker b Little 0 (England 0-1)
OH MY DAYS! Served a wide one, Buttler looks to hit over the top, but the left-arm over angle makes it a slightly different shot and he tickles a catch behind! Here we go!
1st over England 0-0 (Buttler 0, Hales 0) Target 158 Little has the ball….
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Righto, off we go again!
“Good Morning Daniel, good morning everyone!” chirps Em Jackson. “Whether or not Ireland win this today, it’s some achievement – still – to think that a country where more than a million live in & around Dublin/County Dublin (compared to say Leitrim or Longford), where the summer sports are mainly Gaelic Games – football, hurling, camogie – and where there’s also “distractions” of Rugby Union, soccer (as distinct from “Gaelic football”), golf to name but three for kids growing up (and no kids coming through means no players coming through), are competing vs India, Pakistan, England (and England more than many have such distractions) etc. etc. in a World Cup.
At some point the ECB, the Irish Cricket Assoc., Cricket Scotland and a ‘Wales Cricket Unit’ need to have a Four-Nations Cup for T20 at least in the future. Witness the Nations Cup in soccer* - rather than merely tacked on T20s after Test’s lets have something . . . . more meaningful? Indeed, are we close to needing a Six Nations T20 Cup? England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands + best other European Nation?
Back to the action today though: One or more Ireland player needs to accelerate to 75+ and/or 50+ you’d think to make their score competitive, but the weather . . . . it’s going to be exciting.”
And she returns: “Can I confirm, for the record, I’m not some sort of Irish mythological creature that curses cricketers by my comments and/or emails!”
Agree with all the gist of this. The more that can be done for emerging nations, the better.
Things happened so quickly at the end, there was no time for email, so let’s do a few now. “I know that selecting Woakes has several benefits,” says Tom van der Gucht, “such as his batting, reliability, early swing, a thoroughly nice chap etc. I just wonder if selecting Mills would have been a bolder option and would have provided more options with having two left-armers, him offering more pace and Curran more swing whilst Wood and Stokes would offer the same but with their right arms.”
I keep saying this, but right-arm medium and Australia don’t often mix. Like you, I see Woakes’ virtues; problem is, if Ireland can get after him, you’d fancy others can too.
On which point, hold tight Ireland, Andy Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker in particular. They came out with a plan – whack it off side if you can, go at Chris Woakes – and executed brilliantly. But from 92-1 at the halfway mark, they’ve finished shy of where the’d have hoped to be, and will have to bowl like demons to get a result from here.
Mark Wood says he doesn’t think England bowled well in the first 10 overs – he’s right – and wonders if the cavernously empty ground left them flat. Thing is, they’ve got so many weapons, and today it was Liam Livingstone with 3-17 and Sam Curran with 2-31 who rescued them. That said, Wood – though he says he didn’t bowl well – still contributed 3-34, which tells you where his game’s at, and the key moment came when Adil Rashid fluked a run out when Ireland were bang on top.
England need 158 to beat Ireland!
That was an absolute buzz. Ireland batted superbly first up, but five wickets in 18 deliveries make England strong favourites.
WICKET! Little c Buttler b Stokes 0 (Ireland 157 all out)
Regulation stuff, Little backing away to feather a catch behind.
20th over: Ireland 157-6 (Delany 12, Little 0) Stokes will finish off and Delany forces his first delivery away for one…
19th over: Ireland 156-9 (Delany 11, Little 0) How many can Ireland finagle from the final over?
WICKET! Hand b Curran 1 (Ireland 156-9)
Curran does it again! from wide, he slants one in and Hand makes room … but misses. England have come back superbly in this last few overs.
19th over: Ireland 156-8 (Delany 11, Hand 1) Curran has such bottle – his desire to bowl at the death, and guts to perform his skills, are very, very special. Hand takes one to cover, then a misfield from wood on the 45 allows Delany a three.
WICKET! McCarthy b Curran 3 (Ireland 152-8)
Timing and temperament! Yes, but also skill and variation! Curran’s yorker has improved so much in recent times, and and when McCarthy comes down, he misses and the bowler hits!
19th over: Ireland 152-7 (Delany 8, McCarthy 3) McCarthy turns Curran’s first ball away for two to midwicket…
18th over: Ireland 150-7 (Delany 8, McCarthy 1) McCarthy forces his first ball to point for one and that’s another fine over from Livingstone.
WICKET! Adair c Curran b Livingstone 4 (Ireland 14-7)
Pace and wrist spin are what you need in Australia, and Livingstone now has 3-16! He fires one in, Adair tires a slog-sweep, and Curran a little further in than before, holds on as you know he will. What a cricketer he’s become.
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18th over: Ireland 149-6 (Delany 8, Adair 4) Three singles and a two begin this latest Livingstone over…
17th over: Ireland 144-6 (Delany 6, Adair 1) That was a useful knock from Campher, and when Adair flays his first delivery over the off side it looks for a moment like another wicket … but the ball drops just short of Woakes at third man. They run one, then Delany cuts wide of deep third for four – he’s timed that nicely – before wearing one on the helmet, playing for bounce than there is, effectively heading a bouncer. He’s fine, though, and has seen away Wood, who finishes with 3-43.
WICKET! Campher c Buttler b Wood 17 (Ireland 138-6)
Wood fires a bouncer towards leg side and Campher looks to get some of it – and looks to have got enough of it to score – but no! A faint tickle is snaffled b Buttler, and England are hauling themselves back into this.
17th over: Ireland 138-5 (Campher 17, Delany 2) Wood returns to finish off, Buttler hoping to get rid of the new batter. But Delany squirts to fine leg for one, then Campher dances across to off and scoops the fastest bowler in the world over fine leg for four! How about that for stones?
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16th over: Ireland 133-5 (Campher 13, Delany 1) Delany survives the hat-trick ball, another attempted yorker, then shoves one to long one, and that’s a great, potentially match-saving over for England, six runs and two wickets from it.
WICKET! Dockrell b Livingstone 0 (Ireland 132-5)
Two in two! Livingstone gives this a little extra gas, Dockrell is foxed by its off-break – that can happen when you’ve a bowler able to turn it both ways – and is either yorked or yorks himself, depending on your perspective. Livingstone’s on a hatty, and what a match this already is!
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WICKET! Balbirnie c Hales b Livingstone 62 (Ireland 132-4)
Balbirnie goes again, but doesn’t get quite enough of his sweep and holes out to Hales coming in from deep square. Brilliant captain’s knock, but.
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16th over: Ireland 132-3 (Balbirnie 62, Campher 13) Livingstone returns, and his first ball is flipped to finest leg for four! A single follows, handing Balbirnie the strike…
15th over: Ireland 127-3 (Balbirnie 62, Campher 8) Curran, who’s been so effective during this period, returns, and after a leg bye and a two, Balbirnie absolutely knucks him over square leg for six, as a lad in the crowd dives over seat and into concrete, absolutely nowhere near the catch. If you released that sound on 12 inch you’d have a number one on your hands, and when the skipper clips two more to deep square, it makes for 11 off the over, another belter for Ireland!
“With a four-month-old baby,” says Michael Keane, “I’ve been ‘lucky’ enough to be up catch every early game this tournament – 5am local time. He has just confirmed to me with a nod (cricket sage that he now is) that that was Ireland’s highest powerplay so far, which is just what we need. We’ve suffered in the PP all year and it’s cost us. We’re also bemused by the continued raised eyebrows among our fellow Test nations’ commentators at the ability of Lorcan Tucker. May I also say how nice it is to finally have an OBO on an Ireland game. Feels like we’re really at the top table now.”
First of all, mazal tov! And I feel you – my daughter was born during Mitch’s Ashes, for which I’m yet to forgive her. Otherwise, it’s so great to see Ireland not only here but taking it to England – the more countries able to do that, the merrier, and this has the makings of a classic. as the good book says in Deuteronomy, “And you shall teach it to your children…”
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14th over: Ireland 116-3 (Balbirnie 52, Campher 8) Rashid will bowl through – this is his last over, so Ireland milk it for singles which makes sense. Moeen isn’t the same wicket-taking threat, and what Ireland need to guard against now is tossing wickets seeking a monster, when they can just bat sensibly and set something competitive. So five ones and a two it is, Balbirnie raising a fine fifty off the fourth delivery. Rashid is finished, with 0-24 off his four, and Ireland will be hoping to get up to around 160, i imagine.
13th over: Ireland 109-3 (Balbirnie 48, Campher 5) This is a huge partnership now, and Balbirnie needs to decide if he’s going to try and score the runs or bat through. But in the meantime, it’s Campher on strike, and after a wide, he uses Wood’s pace to slap four over backward point before suffering the bowler’s revenge, a short ball angles in from wide that pins him to the crease with nowhere to go. turning the other cheek, he wears it on the helmet, but after a quick inspection is good to go again and escapes to the other end via run-down to third. You can’t take your eyes off this (unless there’s an exocet hurtling towards you at 150km/h plus).
WICKET! Tector c Buttler b Wood 0 (Ireland 103-3)
Yup, that run out does indeed look like a turning point. A brute of a delivery from wood is too quick for Tector – at 153km/h I’m not surprised – and an edge behind is enough to hoof the door open. Good captaincy from Buttler, bringing his, er, point of difference back to attack the new batter, and Ireland need to steady now.
13th over: Ireland 103-2 (Balbirnie 44, Tector 0) Yeah, Rashid was trying to stop that, not score a run out. Wood returns….
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WICKET! Tucker run out (Rashid) 34 (Ireland 103-2)
Oh man. Ohhhhhh maaaaaaaan! Tucker drives, Rashid dives, and diverts ball onto stump via fingertip, with Tucker backing up! I don’t now if he meant it but i do know that England needed it, badly. Great knock, but might that be a turning point?
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12th over: Ireland 103-1 (Balbirnie 48, Tucker 34) Balbirnie shoves two to long off, then four singles follow…
11th over: Ireland 97-1 (Balbirnie 44, Tucker 32) England try Liam Livingstone, which makes some sense – Ireland have tuck(er)ed into the quicks. His first over goes for five singles, blessed relief for Egland and decent consolidation for Ireland. I wonder if we’ll see Moeen at the other end, because Woakes has been monstered; it’s almost as if medium pace gets whacked in Australia – if that’d been happening nearly every four years for the last 200 years, England would have no excuses for not knowing about it.
10th over: Ireland 92-1 (Balbirnie 41, Tucker 30) Buttler is cycling through his bowlers trying to make something happen and his latest trick is to bring back Woakes, who begins with a leg-side wide then offers a freebie in the same area. Perhaps he was trying to follow Balbirnie, but a bit of extra bounce makes it relatively easy for him to haul around the corner for four, and this is great stuff from the two lads in the middle. A pair if singles follow, then Balbirnie canters down and carts over Curran’s head for four to midwicket! AND OHHHH MY DAYS! Another one down leg side, more bounce … and Balbirnie gets underneath to help it around the corner for six! A single follows, making it 18 from the over, and at drinks, Ireland are in command! England, meanwhile, could use a stiff one several!
9th over: Ireland 74-1 (Balbirnie 25, Tucker 29) Rashid is such a weapon for England in these middle overs, a wicket-taker who can keep a lid on scoring. But Ireland have been so composed out there and, after a single to Balbirnie, Tucker forces another to midwicket that raises the 50 partnership. Balbirnie then drives pleasantly to deep extra and they run two, before one more to long on makes it five off the over. That’s a bit better from England, but they really need a breakthrough because Ireland bat deep.
8th over: Ireland 69-1 (Balbirnie 21, Tucker 28) Stokes returns and England could really use his golden arm here – I’m sure that’s why he’s been brought on. They have to make do with four singles which, given how the last few overs have gone, they’d have taken.
“Feels like bit of a wasted powerplay for England,” emails Sujit, “getting too carried away with the bounce and not pitching it up often enough. Ireland would be very happy with the start they have got.”
Yes, although I think it’s also fair to note that the kind of shots that have gone to the fence, smears over the off side, are more of a reflection of how Ireland have chosen to bat than of England’s lengths, I think.
7th over: Ireland 65-1 (Balbirnie 19, Tucker 26) Rashid into the attack, and we have got ourselves a ball-game! Balbirnie makes room to address his loosener, forcing a full toss over point for four, and Ireland have momentum. Like the pro he is, though, Rashid responds well, ceding just two singles from his remaining five deliveries.
6th over: Ireland 59-1 (Balbirnie 14, Tucker 25) S-Cuzz into the attack, and Tucker flicks his first delivery away for two to square leg, then makes room to drive an attempted yorker that’s actually a full toss under Stokes’ dive at mid off. This is already another acceptable over for Ireland, and though a dot comes next, Tucker then glances two more off the hip. Curran responds with a sharp bouncer, but have an absolute look! Tucker marches down the track to flow Curran back over his head for a check-driven six over mid on! That’s a gloooorious shot, and makes it 14 from the over along with the third-highest powerplay of the tournament!
5th over: Ireland 45-1 (Balbirnie 14, Tucker 11) In steams Wood again, and lands a bouncer on the index finger of Balbirnie’s right hand. It looks a right sair yin, and there’s a break while the physio takes a look; I doubt the next ball will be a full one. Or maybe it will because the better’s expecting a bouncer, or maybe it’ll be short because the bowler knows he’s expecting a bouncer so is expecting a full one, and so on to infinity. Here it comes … and Wood goes full, so Balbirnie makes room again, flaying over cover-point for four! Forcing high into the off side seems like a plan and it’s working pretty well, so the next two deliveries are leg-side; one goes for a bye, the other Tucker just about flicks around the corner for one more, before Balbirnie squeezes the over’s final delivery for two to third man. Eight off the over, and Wood is halfway through his allocation.
4th over: Ireland 37-1 (Balbirnie 8, Tucker 10) Balbirnie nudges a single to square leg, then Tucker skips to off and scoops Woakes for four! That’s a lovely shot, and Ireland will know they need to make hay when Wood is fielding, because they can’t rely on wides, byes and edges to do their scoring for them. Two singles and a dot follow, Woakes pulling back length and beating Tucker’s forward press for the latter, but then when he offers width, the batter stands, waits, and cuts hard, just over Hales’ dive at extra, and that’s four more! Great start for Ireland!
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3rd over: Ireland 26-1 (Balbirnie 6, Tucker 1) Welcome to the middle! Wood flings an even quicker delivery down at Tucker, who forces it off his sternum and escapes to the non-striker’s; Balbirnie is then served one that straightens past his outside edge. This is affirming, terrifying stuff, and when Balbirnie backs away – who wouldn’t? – Wood follows him. Buttler then pulls off a fine dive to save byes, shies at the stumps, and they run three buzzers to add to the wide. What an over that was; you just cannot take your eyes off the middle when Wood has ball in hand.
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WICKET! Stirling c Curran b Wood 14 (Ireland 21-1)
Another short one from Wood – short and lethal at 150km/h. So Stirling goes again, wider this time, and on the fence at third man, Curran holds just as we knew he would. Wood is flying.
3rd over: Ireland 21-0 (Stirling 14, Balbirnie 6) Yup, just the one over of Stokes; Wood will take over, in a spell sponsored by the phrase “point of difference”. And Stirling goes at his loosener, a huge mow sending the ball backwards over the batter’s head! On the fence, Curran does a great job of leaping to bring it back into play … but he clips the plastic with ball in hand, and that’s six!
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2nd over: Ireland 15-0 (Stirling 8, Balbirnie 6) England will be doing their best to keep the ball dry while Ireland will hope their batters can settle quickly. Woakes second – and fifth – ball jags in and hits Balbirnie on the thigh, then Balbirnie makes room to attack the last, carving four over extra cover. Ireland will be happy with this start.
The players are back with us and we’re still getting our 20 overs. Play!
In the meantime, we’re looking at Sam Curran, who’s one of those cricketers it can be hard to grasp purely by analysing the disciplines. Of course, he’s a nifty and improving bowler, enterprising batter and reliable fielder. But what elevates him is temperament and timing; because of that, he’s a much better player than his skills, which are considerable, dictate he should be.
Cricinfo report that the rain has stopped and the covers are coming off. Hopefully we get on soon enough to preserve the full length of the match, and get away without any more intrusion.
I wonder if the ground will make a difference here; at the G, you need to hit it properly to reach the fence, unlike in Hobart. On the one hand, you’d think England’s batters might be better at working the ball about, but on the other, it might reduce the impact of their superior hitting. Which isn’t to say Ireland don’t have destructive batters themselves, they do, which is to say no one knows anything. Or that I don’t, definitely one of the two.
This time, they’ve not just covered the strip but some of the pitch too – it looks like a longer stoppage, and probably a shortened match. I guess Ireland won’t mind that – on the one hand, I’m sure they want to test themselves over the stretch, but on the other, they’re serious sportsmen who want to win, and the more time lost, the better their chances of doing that.
Rain stopped play
2nd over: Ireland 11-0 (Stirling 8, Balbirnie 2) Too full and too wide from Woakes, so Stirling, who stays on leg, reaches and kind of one-arms backward of backward point for four. A wide follows, but England won’t mind that too much because it was generated by massive outswing, but Ireland are settled now and Stirling steps away, splays legs, and smears over the off side; they run three. But, well, it’s raining again and coming down much more heavily than before. We’ve got about half an hour built in before we start losing overs and we’ve already had 18 minutes of that; because there’s a second match following this one, we can’t just let nature take its course. Three balls remain in this over.
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1st over: Ireland 3-0 (Stirling 1, Balbirnie 2) There’s a bit of grass on the pitch that perhaps explains the change of seam for spin made by Ireland. Anyhow, Stirling chops to backward point for one, then Balbirnie eases two to third man; Stokes has been a bit short here, unusual for him given he’s taken the new meteorite to find any swing that might be out there. But his final delivery jags back in and, beats the bat and thunks into Balbirnie’s thigh; that might encourage Woakes, who I assume will begin from the other end.
Gosh, that clean-up was quick; off we go! Stokes to bowl, Stirling to face.
England are huddling on the boundary – discussing the match, rather than because it’s cold – and the stumps are in the ground, so we should be good to get away imminently.
“And it’s raining again. Just a super-fine mist, but the covers are going back on,” returns our man. “Suddenly a bit brighter here, and covers going off again.”
I guess it’s usually a bit different if the weather comes before play starts, rather than once it’s under way. So far, so Melbourne, says a a man who’s never been to Australia and is sat in a north London box-room.
Our man in Melbourne gets in touch: “Covers coming back off now, and a rope going around the outfield. But I’m not sure Melbourne’s had four consecutive rain-free hours in the last day or so, so they might be on and off a bit. Play due to start 15 minutes late. Jos Buttler was asked about the weather in his pre-match press conference yesterday, and this is what he said:
‘Where it’s reasonable if you can continue the game as much as you can, I think that’s the right decision. If it becomes dangerous or unfair then it’s certainly the right decision to stop the game. As much as we can, if we can get the game moving, get the game continuing, say for instance we play tomorrow and there’s a little bit of rain which isn’t that heavy and it looks like it’s going to blow through, can we just stay on and keep going?’”
Ach, it’s raining again.
The hessian mat is back on the pitch.
FYI
We’ll get under way in 10 minutes, at quarter past the hour.
The thing I love about T20 – and, if I’m honest, the thing that sometimes bothers me about it – is that I’ve not a clue who’s going to win this competition. I love it because that’s one reason we play – we don’t know who’s going to win – and that sometimes bothers me because we’re trying to measure who’s best, and in the format, that often depends on the day, rather than a general superiority.
The players are going off, but the expectation is that they’ll be back on before long.
The start has been delayed; by how much I’m not sure.
Out come the players for the anthems. It’s still raining a bit, but not, it doesn’t seem enough to prevent us from getting on with things; the PA asks the few in the crowd to stand if they can and remove their hats. I did not know the latter was a thing, but the mascots have all kept theirs on.
Don’t forget that when this match is finished, we’ve got New Zealand v Afghanistan, so really need the weather to behave for us. Hopefully we get two full matches.
Rain stops anthems
Oh dear, it’s raining. It wasn’t meant to be, and if it doesn’t stop we might wind up with a five-over shootout; in the meantime, the covers are coming on.
Teams!
Ireland: 1 Paul Stirling, 2 Andy Balbirnie (capt), 3 Lorcan Tucker (wk), 4 Harry Tector, 5 Curtis Campher, 6 George Dockrell, 7 Gareth Delany, 8 Mark Adair, 9 Fionn Hand, 10 Barry McCarthy, 11 Josh Little.
England: 1 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Chris Woakes, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood.
Morgan confesses that, in the 2016 World Cup final, he didn’t give Stokes enough help whereas, in 2019, he helped Archer slow things down. Nevertheless, he was one of the greatest captains I’ve ever seen, in any sport – I can’t think of too many whose personal impact has been comparable.
The ODI series starts the day after the Test side arrive in Abu Dhabi to prepare for Pakistan – I really wish it wasn’t like that.
Eoin Morgan is a little surprised England haven’t rested Chris Woakes or Mark Wood. The former, he says, often pulls up stiff, and England need them firing for the Australia and New Zealand matches coming up. On England’s fielding, he says that against Afghanistan, they made half-chances look easy and can pull it off because they train longer and harder than anyone else. That kind of thing can turn big matches.
Buttler perhaps errs in saying he’s gone for his strongest team, later revising that to strongest team for the situation.
Balbernie would’ve fielded first, as with a bit of rain around and also in general, he thinks it can be easier to chase. His team enjoyed themselves in Hobart but are excited to be the first Irish side to play at the G and make new great memories; they make one change, Fionn Hand replacing Simi Singh – so seam for spin.
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Andy Balbernie tosses, Jos Buttler calls heads, and heads it is! England will field!
He says overcast conditions motivated his decision, that his team set a great standard of fielding against Afghanistan, and England are unchanged.
Sky have just advertised their channel by showing footage of Ben Stokes backed by the commentary “Cut away for four”. Yes, they’ve literally divested Nasser of his first “Cut away”; I’ve called Interpol.
Preamble
It doesn’t take much for sports fans to lose themselves in nostalgia - and, let’s be real, given the absolute state of things, we could be forgiven for diving into an idealised pool of how things once were … if that didn’t have so much to do with getting us here in the first place. But it’s nevertheless impossible to conceive of an Ireland v England World Cup match without taking ourselves back to Bengaluru in March 2011, when Kevin Pietersen scored 59, Jonathan Trott 92 and Ian Bell 81 … only for Kevin O’Brien to play one of the great innings, 113 off 73, to help Ireland home by three wickets with five balls to spare.
A lot’s changed since then; most particularly, England have learnt to play limited overs cricket. But when it comes to T20, that doesn’t always matter: of all the sports in the world, only MMA can claim to be as unpredictable. In the latter, it’s because there are so many ways to finish a contest and finish it quickly, which is sort of the case with the former too. Cricket has always been an individual sport played by teams – likewise MMA in its way, given the propensity of fighters to use the word “we” when talking about putting themselves through barely believable punishment – and in the shortest form, one brilliant knock or spell can render everything else irrelevant. Just ask Ben Stokes.
So what of today’s match? Well, England arrive at it in terrific form, having edged Pakistan in one of the great serieseseses then walloped Australia, Pakistan again and Afghanistan in the last month. But Ireland are at it too, having eliminated West Indies to reach this stage, and though they were well-beaten by Sri Lanka in their first Super 12 match, both sides know they’re one Kevin O’Brien innings away from shocking the world.
Play: 3pm local, 5am BST
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