Ireland Vs England No Result Takes England to Super 8
For the second consecutive day, rain played spoilsport in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup bringing curtains to two sides that had the will but not the luck to succeed. After Zimbabwe bowed out mainly due to rain, it was Ireland’s bad luck that saw them being edged out despite restricting the spirited English for mere 120 runs at Guyana on Tuesday. While Ireland failed to live up to their promise, England qualified for the Super Eights following the no-result washout.
It was a bad day for Ireland, who on their last trip to the Caribbean stunned Pakistan in the World Cup and were on their way to achieve a similar victory by restricting England to 120 for eight. The day once again belonged to former Irish cricketer and current English batsman Eoin Morgan who once again top-scored for his team with 45 valuable runs. For the second time in as many days and innings, Morgan found support at the other end in the form of Luke Wright while rest of the side failed to reach double figures. Wright made 20 runs and besides the openers was the only one who crossed 10. England will now have to worry more about their batsmen’s form as both Kevin Pietersen and skipper Collingwood fell cheaply.
In a stand of 41 with Wright, former Irishman Morgan revived England’s fortune with some typically innovative shots before being dismissed in the final over. His 37 ball stay featured five fours and gave England total the respectability it lacked t one time.
For Ireland, opening bowlers Boyd Rankin and Trent Johnson were the top bowlers. Not only did they apply breaks on their opponents scoring but also motivated the other bowlers to do something out of the ordinary, and they did just that. They tamed the English team mainly due to calculated bowling by their Australia-born pacer Trent Johnston who took one wicket for 14 runs. Kevin O'Brien also chipped in with2 wickets for 22.
The tension reached the English camp even in the second innings as they feared a second dose of Duckworth-Lewis misery as soon as rain disrupted play early in the Irish innings. But as luck was with the men in blue, the downpour and the rules worked in their favour, making the match a no-result affair and providing England the one point they required to qualify.
The same Duckworth-Lewis method, that was criticized after England lost to the West Indies despite scoring 191 runs, saved England as they went through on superior run-rate. Ireland, who also lost to the hosts in their opening match paid dearly for their 70-run defeat where they were bowled out for a record tournament low of 68.
For the second consecutive day, rain was the winner and cricket the loser as continuous downpour meant the match failed to reach the five-over limit after which the run rates are compared to decide the winner. Instead, Ireland managed just 14 for one off 3.3 overs, taking the game towards eventual abandonment.
It was a cruel end for Ireland's Twenty20 World Cup as they deserved better treatment after forcing England to scrap for each and every run. They would have been set a target of 61 in nine overs had rain stopped but it didn’t happen. England inched into the Super Eights despite winning a single match and now look forward to starting their Super Eight campaign against either defending champions Pakistan or Australia in Barbados on Thursday. The eventual opponent will be decided after the crucial match between Australia and Bangladesh today.
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