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.