Ireland complete historic win against England in 2011 World Cup, Kevin O'Brien scores fastest century
The ICC World Cup, 2011 has been criticised for having too many one sided matches, and with several minnows in the tournament it seems unavoidable. However, the latest showdown between a so-called minnow of world cricket and a powerhouse did not go as predicted.
England were given a real rollicking by the spirited Irish team as the un-fancied http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ireland-c751 side triumphed in an emphatic manner. It was a match no one could have called and the contest was so fierce that even two test playing nations could have struggled to maintain the same level of intensity over a period of 100 overs.
Batting first, England posted a massive total of 327 runs, but with the batting friendly pitches in the world cup, scores in access of 300 have become a norm. Ireland were led by the brilliant Kevin’ O Brien, who scored the fastest World Cup century.
English captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat first. His decision was soon vindicated when he and Kevin Pietersen put on an excellent opening stand for the first wicket. Strauss scored 34 and Pietersen was dismissed for 59 runs. Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell put on another fabulous stand in the middle of the innings worth 167 runs. Trott was dismissed 8 short of his hundred while Bell scored 81. England postd 327 runs for the loss of 8 wickets.
Ireland’s reply did not begin ideally and William Porterfield was dismissed for a duck on the very first ball. Paul Stirling and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wilson-c98046 added just 3 runs on the board, and with the score at 111 for 5, the match looked all but over.
Then came in Kevin’ O Brien who started to rebuild the innings alongside Alex Cusack. England had started to relax by then and thought that the match was already in the bag. The two in the middle however refused to give up, and started to play some big shots. Suddenly the impossible started to look likely. The match really turned when Ireland took the batting power-play. They scored 75 runs from those 5 overs and the target suddenly started to look within reach. Kevin’ O Brien was the main man who smashed the England attack all over the park. He also scored the fastest hundred in a World Cup, which came off just 50 balls. That also included the biggest six of the world cup so far, that went for 102 meters.
The England team started to show signs of nerves and there were misfields and long hops to prove that. Cusack was dismissed for a well made 47 runs, but Kevin’ O Brien found another bale partner in shape of John Mooney. Kevin’ O Brien continued to play his shots and took Ireland on the brink of victory. He was unfortunately run out in the 48th over and Mooney took Ireland to a historic win. They got home with 5 balls to spare and won the match by 3 wickets.
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