New Zealand defeated Ireland by 35 runs in the 37th game of the ICC T20 World Cup at the Adelaide Oval.
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Earlier in the match, Ireland won the toss and opt to field first. New Zealand got a slow start from the openers Finn Allen and Devon Conway. Timing the ball wasn’t that easy for them in the initial half. Ireland used three different pacers with the new ball. Soon Finn Allen started hammering the ball to app parts and took New Zealand to a good score at the end of the powerplay.
Allen made a fantastic 32 off 18 balls and soon Conway and Kane Williamson glued 44 runs together. Conway was feeling the pressure as he was going below run a ball and got out eventually. Kane Williamson switched gears quickly today and took New Zealand to a commendable total.
With some good support from Glenn Phillips and Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson tore apart few opposition bowlers. He got out for 61 off 35 balls in the 19th over and what followed next was a hattrick from Josh Little. Jimmy Neesham and Mitchell Santner soon followed on consecutive deliveries and all New Zealand could manage 185 runs at the end of 20 overs.
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For Ireland, Joshua Little (4-0-22-3) scalped three wickets, while Gareth Delany (4-0-30-2) picked a couple of wickets. Mark Adair (4-0-39-1) did pick a wicket but was expensive.
Ireland needed 186 runs from 20 overs and they would look to cause an upset.
Ireland openers Andrew Balbirnie (30 off 25) and Paul Stirling (37 off 27) were smashing the Blackcaps bowlers all around in the first 8 overs, adding 68 runs for the first wicket. Once the spinners were introduced, Ireland lost their way in the run chase. Mitchell Santner got the dangerous-looking Balbirnie bowled. Then Ish Sodhi came in and picked a couple of wickets, followed by Lockie Ferguson and Tim Southee who dismantled the middle order of Ireland.
Ireland fell over from 68/0 to 150/9 as they fell short of the target by 35 runs and bow out of the World Cup with a loss. For New Zealand, everyone who bowled picked wickets apart from Trent Boult (4-0-38-0). While Lockie Ferguson (4-0-22-3) scalped three wickets, Tim Southee(4-0-29-2), Ish Sodhi (4-0-31-2) and Mitchell Santner (4-0-26-2) picked a couple of wickets.
Read More: India v Bangladesh- Match Highlights
Post Match: Comments
Andy Balbirnie (Ireland Captain): We played a top-class team and when you play such teams, you need to capitalize on all opportunities. We bowled well right through the tournament, the fielding was a bit off. (Coming to today) It was nice to set-up a platform – that has been a trend in this tournament, but we needed someone to kick on from there. We’re quite happy with what we achieved (in the tournament), compared to where we were in the last 12 months, we have improved a lot, especially against good teams and we are looking forward to meeting these sides once again. (On Josh Little) He’s a class operator and showed it today
Kane Williamson (Player of the Match and New Zealand Captain): The ball held on the surface a little bit, I think the guys at the top were brilliant to give us the start and help us build the momentum. Then I think the spinners bowled brilliantly to get us the win. I was just trying to build some partnerships and contribute, happy to time a few balls as well today but it was a real team effort. They (Ireland) played some amazing cricket, played some challenging cricket and we had to adapt well, which I thought we did. The ball was stopping on the surface, the openers made a great start and the rest of the batters adjusted well to the conditions, especially against spin. I wanted to take my options, work on partnerships, speak with the batters about things to do going forward. We had to wait until the 9-over mark to get our first wicket. We needed to adjust our lines, bowl a bit slower and I thought the bowlers did so beautifully.
