Ireland v West Indies World T20 Match Report

Ireland opened their 2010 ICC World Twenty20 campaign with a disappointing loss to cricket giants West Indies late last night. West Indies won by 70 runs with just under four overs remaining via a stellar performance from Darren Sammy.

West Indies won the toss and chose to bat. Irish captain William Porterfield had hoped that he would get the choice to bat first, but it was not to be. He had also said that his aim was to keep the home side to under 140 runs, a feat which was narrowly achieved.

Irish bowling was sluggish at times, Trent Johnston and Niall O'Brien gave away too many runs for little reward. However when Boyd Rankin bowled opener Chanderpaul in the third over, things were looking positive for Ireland. Rankin also took out wicketkeeper Ramdin, but the stars with the ball were Andre Botha and 17 year-old George Dockrell. Dockrell was wonderful yesterday, ending with a marvellous 4-16 from 24 balls.

139 was not a huge target to meet, requiring 7 runs per over, but Ireland's stint at bat yesterday was the worst of recent years, with only one player reaching double figures. The West Indies have Darren Sammy to thank for such an impressive performance. He was not only the highest scorer with the bat, but took 3 wickets for just 8 runs, as well as making four catches. Also impressive with the ball were Ravi Rampaul, and the legend Dwayne Bravo.

Gary Wilson was the best of the Irish batters with 19, and Niall O'Brien was very aggressive making 6 runs, but overall the performance was one to forget. Ireland ended with a score of 68, the second lowest total ever at the World Twenty20. We will need to be a million times better if we are to do anything against England on Tuesday.

Ireland v Scotland T20 Match Report

Ireland qualified for the Super Fours section of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifying tournament yesterday with a marvellous all-round game of cricket.

Once again Ireland won the toss and chose to bat. Although no Irish batsman scored more than nineteen runs (a score matched by both Andrew White and Gary Wilson), all players but one ended in double figures. This was a fine example of a team performance at bat, with all players having a decent strike rate, and driving Ireland towards their final score of 136/7.

Openers William Porterfield and Niall O'Brien worked well together once more, with a 31 partnership, and scoring 18 and 17 respectively. Perhaps the brief highlight of Irish batting was Kevin O'Brien's marvellous ten off just four balls - a strike rate of 250.00. He was the only Irishman to hit a six yesterday.

Scotland's batting was the opposite of Ireland's, with just two players entering double figures. This was due, once again, to impressive Irish bowling. The Irish bowlers have improved vastly since their opening game, and were fantastic again yesterday, with Scotland all out for 99 in 18.3 overs.

Neil McCallum and Gordon Drummond were the top scorers yesterday (43 and 35), but neither was enough to give Scotland the victory. The Scots were just 6/4 in the second over, thanks to a stellar performance from Peter Connell and Trent Johnston, who took two wickets each in those two overs. That second over would give Johnston the man of the match award, as it was a double wicket maiden - a very rare sight in Twenty20 Cricket.

Johnston also took the wicket of Jan Stander in the fourth over, but the game was very much a team effort, and Alex Cusack, Kevin O'Brien, and George Dockrell (2) also took wickets of their own. The match finished in style, as the last four wickets fell in quick succession, giving the Irish a 37 run victory, and in high spirits heading towards the next stage of the competition.

Ireland take on UAE today in the Super Fours at 12.00 GMT, and will play the Netherlands tomorrow (Saturday) at the same time. If ranked in the top two, they will play the final on Sunday. Both finalists will make it to the ICC World Twenty20 in April, with the winner being inserted in Group C and the loser in Group D.

Ireland v USA T20 Match Report

Ireland achieved their record high score in Twenty20 Cricket yesterday as they opened with a marvellous 202 (for 4) against the United States of America.

William Porterfield won the toss and chose to bat first. He formed an excellent opening partnership with Niall O'Brien, scoring 83 for first wicket in 8.3 overs, and setting the pace early on. His replacement, Alex Cusack was just as good. Porterfield scored 45 and Cusack 46, but the real star of the innings was O'Brien, who looked destined for his first century at this level. He ended on 84 from 66 balls.

Kevin O'Brien scored three from three, but was once again too aggressive. Trent Johnston and Gary Wilson closed out the innings, scoring 12 and 5 respectively. Ireland ended with 202, a score of 10.10 runs per over.

The United States were always on the back foot and Ireland started amazingly with the ball, with their opponents 11 for 5 after 3.2 overs. Paul Connell and Trent Johnson were amazing, especially Connell with a record score of 4-14. Johnston took the other two wickets, ending with 2-17. The bowling throughout the team was much better than in the opener against Afghanistan, and each of the five bowlers stayed the duration.

American prospect Aditya Thyagarajan was amazing on his debut, but it wasn't to be his day, as the match was totally sewn up by his arrival. He scored a fantastic 72 not out, and is surely one to watch for the future. The player of the game, however, was Niall O'Brien with his astounding 84, which included twelve boundaries, two of which were sixes.

Scorecard:
http://www.cricinfo.com/2010iccwt20/engine/current/match/439502.html

Ireland v Afghanistan T20 Match Report

Afghanistan 139/8 defeated Ireland 126/10.

Ireland sadly slumped to defeat in their opening ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai. They played Afghanistan in Group A, and after winning the toss, chose to field. This was a costly decision, as Afghanistan posted an impressive 139 in the twenty over game.

Ireland started extremely well with Trent Johnston bowling opener Karim Sadiq in the second over. However, Sadiq's partner, Noor Ali proved a much more difficult foe, posting 42 runs off 45 balls. Afghanistan batted very aggressively, losing many wickets to single figures, but the middle order of Mohammad Shahzad, Nowroz Mangal and especially Mohammad Nabi set a high run rate for Ireland to follow. Nabi was man of the match, scoring 43 not out off just 25 balls.

Ireland used six separate bowlers trying to defeat Afghanistan. Trent Johnston and Andre Botha were the best of the Irish, both taking two wickets. Johnston's 2-18 was a very impressive score in his allotted four overs. Kevin O'Brien was expected to bowl four overs, but he gave up twenty runs off just twelve balls, allowing Alex Cusack to get another chance to prove himself. All the Irish bowlers (with the exception of Johnston) will have to raise their game against USA and Scotland if we wish to progress.

The Irish senior cricket team had a target of 140 in 20 overs, which was always a tough challenge. Captain William Porterfield and and young Paul Stirling combined well after Niall O'Brien was caught trying to play aggressively. They put up a partnership of 30, as well as scoring 35 and 21 respectively. Andre Botha lasted just two balls, but scored no runs in a disappointing stint with the bat.

Ireland looked strong even after the loss of Kevin O'Brien and Paul Stirling, but once Alex Cusack was run out chasing the score, Ireland faced a tough challenge - it was a lot to ask of the bowlers to try to win the match. Johnston was the best of the tail, scoring 18 from 17 balls, but the aggressive play led to many mistakes, and Ireland were all out for 126 in the final over.

In the other Group A tie, USA defeated Scotland by 6 wickets. At the moment, Ireland sit bottom of the table with a net run rate of -0.650. Our next game is on at 10.00 GMT tomorrow against USA. Hopefully we can turn it around.

Canada T20 Match Report

Eighteen year-old Hiral Patel was the hero for Canada as they defeated Ireland by four runs in a tense Twenty20 Cricket match in Sri Lanka at the Associates T20 Series. It was Patel's debut, and his 88 not out set a massive target for Ireland to beat. Ireland won the toss and chose to field, but it could have been an error, as they posted a wonderful 176/3 - a whopping 8.80 runs per over.

Andre Botha was the only Irish players to take any wickets; bowling both Rizwan Cheema and Ashish Bagai, as well as bowling and catching Umar Bhatti with the second last ball. Patel's unbeaten 88, Cheema's 34 and Bagai's 42 set Ireland a large score to overcome. Six other Irish bowlers were used to try and defeat Patel, but his batting was far too strong, scoring eleven boundaries. The Irish bowling economy was disappointing, with Trent Johnston's 6.50 (25 runs from 24 balls) Ireland's best score.

Ireland needed 177 runs from 20 overs, and were constantly playing catch-up. The openers started well - Porterfield and Niall O'Brien had a partnership of 51 for first wicket, in less than five overs. The Irish batsmen had to be very aggressive, and thus mistakes were much more likely. Wicketkeeper Niall O'Brien was Ireland's highest scorer with 50, Gary Wilson made 26, and Paul Stirling 22. Opener Porterfield scored 19, Andre Botha posted 11 runs, and Andrew White was 18 not out. Due to the aggressive nature of the twenty overs, Ireland attempted to go for extra runs at every opportunity. Thus both Kevin O'Brien and John Mooney were run out for 5 and 9 runs respectively. Botha was also run out, trying to meet the required 8.80 runs per over required.

The match went down to the last ball, and if White could have hit a six, Ireland would have won. This morning, that was not to be, and Ireland lost by four runs, ending with an impressive 172/8. On another day, perhaps Ireland would have not had as many run outs and Kevin O'Brien could have stayed batting and significantly helped our cause.

Full Scorecard

Ireland play Sri Lanka A again tomorrow (08:30 GMT) and then take on Canada in a rematch on Sunday at 06:00 GMT.

Afghanistan T20 Match Report

After losing to Sri Lanka A in their first game, Ireland turned things around to beat Afghanistan in the Associates Twenty20 Series. A marvellous stint at bat from captain William Porterfield was the main reason for Ireland's win, as well as some splendid bowling from Trent Johnston, Andre Botha, and George Dockrell.

Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat at the P Sara Oval in Colombo. They started poorly, with opener Karim Sadiq stumped for three, and although Shafiqullah held on as another wicket was taken, they had four out for just 49 runs, and Ireland looked very much in command. Their star man on the day was Raess Ahmadzai who held on to the end, and scored a very credible 33 not out. Ireland took nine wickets, and Afganistan ended their twenty overs with a makable 121 (6.05 runs per over).

The Irish bowling side was in much better form than against Sri Lanka A, and only five players were utilised, bowling a maximum 4 overs each. Irish cricket legend Trent Johnston started incredibly well, taking out the first three Afghanistan batsmen, and even scoring a maiden over in a phenomenal stint with the ball (he went on to take another wicket, ending with 4-22). Botha took 3 wickets and Dockrell took 2, while Alex Cusack and Kevin O'Brien did only alright, giving away too many runs. Dockrell and Botha were magnificent though, allowing only 11 and 14 runs respectively.

Ireland opened their attack with the same opening duo who played against Sri Lanka A. This time, they were much improved, with Niall O'Brien scoring 18 from 13 balls, and William Porterfield hitting nine boundaries on the way to a very impressive 48 from 30 balls. Ireland were halfway to their target after just 7 overs and looked comfortable until a middle-order batting collapse led to some nervous moments. In just twelve balls, Andre Botha (5 runs), Kevin O'Brien (1), and Paul Stirling (17) were all taken out. However for the second successive match, the duo of John Mooney and Gary Wilson teamed up to close out the match for Ireland. This time however, they were on the winning side. Mooney 8 not out and Wilson 16 not out. Some poor bowling from the Afghanis also allowed thirteen extras, as they used seven different attackers to try and bowl Ireland out. It was not to be, however, as Ireland won with eleven balls remaining.

Ireland take on Canada tomorrow in Colombo as they continue their cricket tour of Sri Lanka. It's on at 04:30 GMT, in case you plan on staying up to keep an eye on it.

Sri Lanka A T20 Match Report

A solid opening innings from Ireland was not enough to overcome Sri Lanka A on Sunday at the Nondescripts Cricket Ground in Colombo. Ireland batted strongly with five players scoring 20 or more, and opener William Porterfield finishing with a strike rate of 150.00. This was not enough, as an all-round team effort from Sri Lanka won the match with one of the allotted twenty overs remaining.

Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to field. Ireland's other opener Niall O'Brien, only lasted two and a half overs and eight balls before being caught for six. Luckily, this did not hinder progress too much, as Andre Botha stepped in to take over. Porterfield was lbwed for 24, Botha and Alex Cusack both ended with 20, and Ireland were 91 for 4 after just 12 overs. Andrew White batted extremely well to keep the score and run rate high scoring 39 off 37 balls. Gary Wilson and John Mooney stayed in until the end, with Mooney hitting 3 off 4 balls, and Wilson scoring a marvellous 28 not out (from just 25 balls). Ireland set a score of 147, at 7.35 runs per over.

Sri Lanka's batting collapsed early, and they were only on a score of 54 with five wickets taken after 7.4 overs. However, Seekkugge Presanna, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, and Jeewan Mendis performed magnificently to bring Sri Lanka back from the brink and win the match with just six balls remaining. Presanna's 28 off 15 balls was extremely impressive.

Phil Eaglestone had been been drafted into the Ireland squad to provide extra bite with the ball, and even though he took out opener Milinda Siriwardana, he only lasted two overs, giving away an astonishing 28 runs. Nigel Jones and John Mooney were others who needed to keep their economy down, giving away far too many runs for a Twenty20 cricket match.

Trent Johnston and George Dockrell were the best of the bowlers, taking two wickets each and only allowing 4.33 and 5.00 runs per over. Alex Cusack also bowled well, taking two wickets himself, including the menacing Jayasinghe.

It was not Ireland's day however, as a strong all-round performance gave the hosts victory.

Match Report: Ireland vs Afghanistan Day 1

At the close of play on Day 1 of Ireland's First Class four-day match against Afghanistan in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, the boys in green are still at bat with a marvellous score of 324/7.

Ireland won the toss and chose to bat. An excellent opening partnership from William Porterfield and Gary Wilson set us on the way, with a score of 120 for first wicket. Wilson lasted almost two hours, posting 53 runs along the way. The captain, Porterfield was next out, fo 78 after 175 minutes and 134 balls. He scored seven fours and two sixes along the way.

Niall O'Brien, Andrew White and Alex Cusack all did well for the Irish, scoing 66, 43, and 39 respectively. Unfortnately all-rounder Andre Botha was stumped for a duck after 5 balls, and Kevin O'Brien scored just 16 runs in his 53 minutes at bat.

At close of play, John Mooney and Trent Johnston were in, with only five runs between them, Johnston not having posted a run in eleven balls. Hopefully he can get into double figures tomorrow before Ireland turn around to bowl against Afghanistan.

Samiullah Shenwari was the best of their bowling side, taking 3-55 in 20 overs. 98 overs were played in all, and the match is due to continue until Sunday.

Match Report: Ireland Under-19s vs USA U-19s

Ireland played their last Group B game at the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup last night against rivals USA, who had beaten the Irish youth side just a few weeks previous. This time, the men in green came out victorious, to finish third in Group B with 2 points.

USA won the toss and chose to bat first. They started well, with opener Steven Taylor scoring 57 before being bowled by a back-on-form Andrew Balbirnie, who bowled his best game of the tournament. Strong batting from Gregory Sewidal and Saqib Saleem put America in a comfortable position, but after Ryan Corns was run out on 31, the US charge was halted. Saleem hung on for a while longer, but no other American batsman made double figures. They were all out for 217 after 48.1 overs.

This was made possible by an inspirational seven balls from Lee Nelson, who took three wickets and allowed only three runs to finish up the match. Craig Young also took three wickets, with Balbirnie, George Dockrell, and Paul Stirling all picking up one a piece.

While Balbirnie may have been potent with the ball, his final outing of the tournament was yet another poor inning with the bat. He made just 3 runs in 29 minutes, and was bowled lbw by Ahmad. Stuart Thompson and Paul Stirling made a fine partnership, with Thompson making a fine 27 runs. Stirling however, was the out and out man of the match, lasting over two hours, facing 104 balls, scoring 12 fours and a six, and posting a wonderful score of 114 runs. His partnerships with Ackland and Nelson didn't last as long, with Ackland scoring 16 and Nelson out for a duck. Ryan Corns was to thank for both wickets, but it was not enough for USA. Graham McDonnell finished off the match with Stuart Poynter, making 40 runs between them, and hitting the required target with 6 overs left.

Ireland will now move onto the Plate competition to determine the best team who didn't make it out of the group stage. They will play Zimbabwe in the first round.

Match Report: Ireland Under-19s vs Australia U-19s

Ireland sadly slumped to their second defeat at the ICC Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand. The result was a resounding 209 run defeat to Australia. Australia are one of the favourites for the tournament, and on this evidence, they are surely contenders to go all the way to the final.

Ireland won the toss and chose to field first. We made two changes to the team which lost to South Africa, with middle-order bastman Adrian D'Arcy and bowler Jordan Coghlan coming into the side. Coghlan was quite impressive with the ball, taking out opener Nic Maddinson after 9.4 overs. However, the partnership of Tom Beaton and Alex Keath put Australia in the driving seat. Beaton scored his second half-century in a row, and Keath took a wonderful 88 in 111 balls before being bowled by Coghlan.

George Dockrell also took two wickets, his first ball stumping Beaton, and taking captain Mitchell Marsh for a duck. Jason Floros was run out, but Tim Armstrong and Kane Richardson could not be beaten, scoring 73 and 24 respectively.

Ireland were always chasing the result, but with Kane Richardson and Nick Buchanan bowling out of their skin, we never stood a chance. Balbirnie was lbwed in the second over, and his replacement, Paul Stirling was bowled on his first ball by Richardson. Ben Ackland and Stuart Thompson began to forge a partnership but Buchanand ended this in the thirteenth over. After Thompson was bowled by Richardson, the match steamrolled to its inevitable conclusion - no other Irishman got into double figures.

We finished with a score of 65 all out after 24.2 overs, and slumped to our second defeat of the competition. There is no chance of us making the final 8, and the third group game against USA will be a mere consolation match.

Match Report: Ireland Under-19s vs South Africa U-19s

Ireland opened their ICC Under-19s World Cup 2010 with a loss last night (morning local time in New Zealand). The underdogs from the outset, Ireland suffered an early batting collapse and lost to South Africa by five wickets.

South Africa won the toss and elected to field. Opening batsmen Stuart Thompson and captain Andrew Balbirnie did not have the best of nights. Thompson was bowled after 6 runs from 15 balls, but even worse was Balbirnie's single after 24 balls. Rabian Engelbrecht was the bowler for both wickets, with Stephen Smith catching Balbirnie's attempted hook.

Senior international Paul Stirling slowed things down and vastly improved the situation for Ireland with an excellent 19 from 29 balls. In form James Shannon sadly only hit 1 off 17, and Ireland were severely under pressure.

However, the partnership of Ben Ackland and Lee Nelson brought the score up to 153 before Nelson was caught for 55. Ackland was the star of the innings with a masterful 66 in 107 balls. Nelson scored four fours and a six to end with a fantastic strike rate of 73.33.

The following two batsmen, Graham McDonnell and Stuart Poynter stayed in for the remaining five overs, and scored 24 not out and 25 not out respectively. This set South Africa a target of 217 in 50 overs.

However, it only took South Africa 43.4 of those alloted overs to meet the target and win by 5 wickets. Stephen Smith was their star man with an unbeaten 67. Dominic Hendricks hit 47 and Malcolm Nofal scored 32 as South Africa powered to victory.

On the bowling side, our own Thompson and Stirling both took two wickets. Thompson scoring 2-29 and Stirling 2-42. Balbirnie took the only other wicket off his 45 runs in 9 overs.

Ireland have a -0.718 runrate after one game, which is something we can definitely overcome. Our next game is against Australia on Sunday, with USA our opponents in the final match.