Ireland continued their winning run with yet another tense finish in their third World T20 Qualifier in Abu Dhabi today and thus retained their 100% record. Set a target of 139 UAE needed just 9 runs of the final over. Up stepped Trent Johnston to use his vast experience in the pressure situation. He produced a series of yorkers which forced the UAE batsmen to take risks and that led to 2 run outs in the space of 4 balls. He then applied the coup de grace by shattering the stumps of the final UAE batsman giving Ireland a 5 run victory.
UAE had appeared to be cruising to their target when they were 60 for 1 in the ninth over when Max Sorensen was introduced into the attack and immediately made the breakthrough when he had UAE top scorer Khurram Khan caught by John Mooney for 35. Sorensen and Paul Stirling combined for an eight over spell that only conceded 39 runs and pushed the required run rate to over 9 per over. George Dockrell then took his first two wickets of the Tournament which left UAE needing 24 runs of the last two overs. Normally Alex Cusack can be relied to deliver at the end of the innings but he conceded two massive sixes in the first three balls of the 19th over. With the help of an astute stumping by Gary Wilson, Cusack redeemed himself somewhat by finishing the over with a wicket. Then came the over of Johnston magic which gave him final figures of 1 for 13 of 2.5 overs.
Max Sorensen was the key bowler with 2 for 17 and was well supported by Stirling (1-21) and Dockrell (2-21). The Ireland fielding was back to its sharpest today and helped maintain the pressure with William Porterfield in particular leading by example.
Earlier Ireland had won the toss and decided to bat but found themselves 3 wickets down half way through the 7th over with just 42 on the board. With the score on 30 Stirling missed a straight ball and was bowled and the same fate befell Niall O’Brien two balls later. Then with the score on 42 a mix up with Kevin O’Brien left Porterfield short of his ground. Kevin together with Gary Wilson rebuilt the innings with a partnership of 92 which ended in the final over when O’Brien was caught on the boundary for 47 of the same number of balls having hit 2 fours and a six which sailed out of the ground. Gary Wilson batted splendidly and finished on 53 not out from just 44 balls including 3 fours. The slowness of the pitch in the Nursery Ground suited UAE’s battery of slow bowlers with their eccentric bowling actions of which only one has of yet been reported and will undergo assessment.
It was a surprise to say the least that Man of the Match was awarded to Kevin O’Brien, who although he played well, was surely usurped by Gary Wilson who in addition to his runs, kept wicket with a razor sharpness that belied his tiring stint with the bat. Ireland now have a two day break until their next game against the USA back in the main stadium on Wednesday with a start time of 6am Irish time.
They deserve their rest as they leave the weekend perched on top of the table even though they have not yet reached peak form but as Gary Wilson said after the game “you know good teams win whenever they're not playing quite at their best”. There is no doubt that Ireland is a good team and the realisation that they can only get better will be a concern for the other teams still vying to get to Bangladesh.
