MAGIC SHOW BY CAMPHER
CURTIS Campher made history as only the third cricketer to take four wickets in four balls on the international stage as his magic led Ireland to a thumping seven-wicket victory over the Netherlands in the opening match of the 2021 men’s T20 World Cup.
Campher joins Sri Lankan modern great Lasith Malinga and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan on the illustrious list of players who claimed four wickets on four consecutive deliveries on the international arena. The allrounder, playing in his first World Cup, did it in the 10th over of the Dutch innings, reducing the opposition from 51-2 to 51-6 in a single over and setting the platform for a dominant Irish victory.
“Dutch went
from 51-2 to 51-6 in an over”
Colin Ackermann was the first to fall to Campher after a review showed that the ball, initially called a leg-side wide by the onfield umpire, had been gloved on its way to Neil Rock behind the stumps. Ryan ten Doeschate was then struck in front of the stumps by a full delivery and Campher repeated the same delivery to Scott Edwards — another review was required to show the ball was projected to hit the stumps, leaving Campher and his teammates jubilant.
But the fun didn’t stop there. Roelof van der Merwe was bowled after inside-edging a delivery onto his stumps, leaving Ireland firmly in the ascendancy. ‘I didn’t think it was going to happen like that but I’ve been training hard and I am just very fortunate to get that,’ the 22-year-old all-rounder said. ‘To be honest, I wasn’t really thinking about it, maybe it will sink in a little bit later. I was just trying to do what I wanted to do.
‘We knew when Ten Doeschate walked in that we had to go straight to him and that worked. We just carried on like that. That was the plan and we on worked on that with our analysts and that does fit in the game, so maybe in a few days, it will sink in, but at the moment, I am just happy with the win.’
With Mark Adair also bowling superbly, taking three wickets, the Netherlands eventually finished on 106 leaving Ireland with a reasonable target which they managed with 29 balls to spare. Paul Stirling, whose 30 took him past 2,500 runs for T20 internationals, and Gareth Delany, who hit 44, played significant parts in the victory.
Despite a stunning six over third man, Stirling played the more patient role, eventually finishing unbeaten on 30 off 39 deliveries; Delany, on the other hand, continued his big-hitting ways from the warm-up win over Bangladesh, striking five fours and two sixes in his 29-ball knock before he was bowled by Seelaar.
Fittingly, Campher was on hand to hit the winning run off the first ball of the 16th over, bringing an end to a fine allround performance by himself and his teammates.
Ireland’s are back in action tomorrow afternoon, facing the stiff challenge presented by Sri Lanka. But Campher’s bowling heroics have put them in prime position to take a place in the Super 12 stage of the World Cup next week.