THE DAY IRISH SILENCED THEIR NEIGHBORS

 

Image Credit- ESPN CricInfo

Venue – M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore [2nd March 2011].

It was the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. Ireland were facing their neighbours England in a group stage game at Bangalore. On a batting-friendly wicket, English captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat first.

Strauss and Pietersen gave England a solid start. The duo stitched an opening partnership of 91 runs in just 13.3 overs. Pietersen scored a brilliant 59 off 50 deliveries, whereas the skipper scored 34 off 37. The middle order continued from where the openers left. Jonathan Trott scored a crucial 92 off just 92 balls and helped England cross 300. He was assisted by Ian Bell, who also scored 81 on this batting paradise. At the end of 50 overs the English scorecard read 327/8.

The Irish needed 328 runs to win the game, which did not look easy in front of the English pace attack. Furthermore, the men in green lost their first wicket on the first ball of their innings as their captain, William Porterfield, was bowled for a duck by James Anderson. Paul Stirling and Ed Joyce did have a 50-run stand, but at the end of 24.2 overs the Irish scorecard read 111/5. They needed more than 200 runs in 25 overs with just 5 wickets in hand. Everyone was expecting an easy win for England, and then a miracle took place.

Kevin 'O'Brien started smashing boundaries all over the park. Whoever bowler came in got hit. Be it Broad, Anderson or Bresnan, everybody went for runs. He scored a brilliant 113 off just 63 deliveries and brought the Irish back into the game. In this innings of 113, Kevin 'O'Brien hit 13 boundaries and 6 sixes. By the time he was dismissed, Ireland needed just 11 runs off 10 deliveries, which they eventually chased down in the next 5 balls. In addition to Kevin 'O'Brien, Alex Cusack [47] and John Mooney [33] also played vital knocks to win the game for their country.

The impossible happened in Bangalore. The Irish silenced their noisy neighbors.  

To watch the Highlights of that Match, Click Here.