Ireland crashed out of the World T20 CUP in Sylhet today when Netherlands produced one of the most astonishing and courageous batting displays ever seen on the world stage.
Chasing a seemingly improbable target of 190 to win Netherlands reached that target in less than fourteen overs. Reaching that target in twenty overs would have been insufficient because Zimbabwe’s victory over UAE earlier today meant that to surpass the African’s run rate and progress to the Super Ten stage, the runs had to be got by the second ball of the fifteen over.
When Wesley Barresi launched Tim Murtagh for the 19th six of the innings the Dutch were home with three balls to spare. The victors set several records in achieving their sensational win. In the history of all T20 Internationals, which includes all of the Test sides, they scored the highest number of runs in the six over powerplay - 91, they were the fastest ever to 100 runs in an innings – 42 balls and the 19 sixes was also a record in an innings. As Ireland had earlier hit 11 sixes in their innings the combined total of 30 is also a record.
The Ireland bowlers found it virtually impossible to contain the avalanche of runs as the Dutch batsmen went after every ball. The opening partnership of skipper Peter Borren and Stephan Myburgh blitzed an incredible 91 off just 35 balls before Borren fell to a superb catch by George Dockrell off Kevin O’Brien’s bowling having made 31 from 15 deliveries. The tone for the chase was set in the second over when Andy McBrine, recalled to the team to replace Max Sorensen, was smashed for 4 sixes in the over including three in succession by Myburgh who then reprised that from the first three balls of Alex Cusack’s only over.
Ireland’s hopes were briefly revived when Dockrell had Myburgh caught on the boundary by Ed Joyce off his third ball and Kevin O’Brien snared Logan Van Beek five balls later thanks to a magnificent catch by William Porterfield.
Myburgh had hit the ball before his dismissal for six over Joyce’s head but couldn’t quite make the carry second time around. However it was his blistering 63 from a mere 23 deliveries, which contained 4 fours and 7 massive sixes that effectively demolished Ireland’s prospect of moving on to the next stage. Van Beek’s dismissal brought the big hitting Tom Cooper to the wicket. Cooper was a late replacement for the allegedly injured Tim Gruijters and has been the key batsman in the Dutch team in the first two matches of the tournament. When he had only scored one he reverse swept Dockrell straight to Joyce who dropped the catch. That would have made the score 108 for four and could well have changed the course of the match. Cooper went on to hammer 44 of his next sixteen balls which included smashing the first four balls of Dockrell’s third over for six.
Although Cooper fell in the twelfth over the result was no longer in doubt and all that remained to be decided was could the men in orange reach their target in time. Barresi and Cooper’s younger brother Ben ensured that they would with Barresi finishing not out on 40.
The Ireland bowling figures do not make for pretty reading with only Kevin O’Brien who took 2 for 29, conceding less than ten runs per over. It is easy to be critical of the bowling, and many will in the post-mortem, but they were subject to the most sustained piece of hitting imaginable. Yes there were too many half volleys and long hops but for virtually every batsmen to strike the ball so well consistently would shatter the confidence of a much more experienced attack than Ireland’s.
Everything had looked rosy at the end of the Ireland innings when a total of 189 for just four wickets would have been welcomed with open arms after the toss. Despite the early loss of Paul Stirling, the batting led by Porterfield steadily accumulated 71 runs in the first ten overs, with the skipper falling in that over for a belligerent 47 from just 32 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. Ireland then added a blizzard of runs in the last ten overs, 118, thanks largely to a century stand of 45 balls between Andrew Poynter and Kevin O’Brien with the former being caught on the boundary of the final ball of the innings for 57 off 38 balls. He hit 4 fours and four sixes including three successive maximums of the Dutch off spinner Michael Swart. O’Brien finished 42 not out from a mere 16 deliveries, which emulated Poynter in making his highest T20 score for Ireland. Kevin also struck four sixes to complement his two fours.
The broad beams in the Ireland dugout signaled their pleasure at the total and no one in the Ireland camp or those watching at home could have envisaged the carnage to come a few minutes later.
The Dutch move on to the Super Tens and only the most churlish could deny their right to be there after a display that will live long in the memory.
Ireland will return home early with no doubt a great deal of disappointment in the ranks but they should not be demoralized. They had won their previous ten games in this competition and rarely will you score 189 and lose. There will be some reassessment of what is required in this format particularly with the bowling. The most galling thing will be that it happened against a fellow Associate and not a full member but that is gone now and there is another two ODI’s in May against Sri Lanka when the men in green will I am certain bounce back.
