Ireland stun England at T20 World Cup to throw Super 12s wide open
From juggernaut to nought. England’s air of invincibility was washed away on a damp and dramatic afternoon in Melbourne, where they lost an abbreviated game to an outstanding Ireland by five runs.
With rain forecast and the required score in case it arrived displayed throughout on the giant stadium scoreboard Englandbatted as if bathed in sunshine and paid the price, deservedly cast in Ireland’s shadow at the end.
They say that failure is an orphan, but England’s here had a long and indistinguished family tree. It was rain in the end that washed away their victory hopes, their innings cut short 5.3 overs from its scheduled conclusion and with the score frustratingly just behind DLS par. But they had been poor in the field, key bowlers had leaked runs and the batting had been pedestrian. Ireland batted brilliantly in the opening half of their innings and their seamers followed that up with the ball.
Gareth Delaney was bowling when the rain camer. Moeen Ali had hit his first ball for six, his second for two, and the third for four. Had he been allowed to deliver three more balls England could have won the game, but they can hardly complain about their luck.
Friday’s game against Australia here – and with a similar forecast – assumes enormous proportions, a virtual eliminator for both sides.
A target of 158 seemed unlikely to fall out of England’s reach, but then Josh Little started bowling, Jos Buttler swung and just missed his first ball, swung and made contact with the second, and was caught by Lorcan Tucker behind the stumps. It was a nightmare start to the innings and soon enough the clouds gathering around the MCG were both literal and figurative.
Having been asked to bat, Ireland motored through the start of their innings, making light of the dismissal of Paul Stirling in the third over. Later in that same over Mark Wood bowled a wide, the batters set off on a run, Buttler returned the ball to the bowler’s end where a misfield threw away another couple of runs. It was that, rather than the wicket, that set the tone.
At the end of the innings Wood described England’s performance in the field as “a bit flat, lacking intensity”, saying they “gave Ireland too many four balls” and “could have done better”, an admirably honest appraisal.
In the following over Tucker hit two fours off Chris Woakes, the first an excellent ramp. Woakes was wildly expensive, bowling three overs for 41 runs before being hidden in the outfield as England ripped up their plans. Before the game Liam Livingstone was asked if he was likely to get a bowl. With a fine mist falling, a heavy blanket of cloud and a ground known for being pace-friendly his answer was simple: “No chance.” An hour or so later he was on a hat-trick.
Woakes’s final over, the 10th, contained a wide, two fours and a six and it was then that the ball was first tossed to Livingstone. His first over cost five and in the next, bowled by Adil Rashid, the innings turned on a moment of outlandishly good fortune for England. Tucker’s luck was definitely out, being run out after Balbirnie’s straight push along the ground deflected into the stumps off the underside of Rashid’s hand.
From 103 for one Ireland were bowled out for 157, losing their last seven wickets for 25 runs in 23 balls. Balbirnie was the fourth to go, dropping to one knee to sweep the ball to Alex Hales in the deep, Livingstone yorked George Dockrell with his next ball and though there would be no hattrick, neither would England have long to wait for more wickets to fall. Halfway through the innings, with Ireland 91 for one, England would have felt things could have been much worse. And, in time, they were.