In the current T20 World Cup, Canada won their first-ever match against Ireland. At Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, Ireland, who appeared to be the favourites, lost because of their batting struggles.
Taking the bat first, Canada appeared to be in trouble from the start. Now that they were down to 53/4, they required a unique solution to escape the mess. Nicholas Kirton and Shreyas Movva took over at that point. In order to save Canada, the two combined for 75 runs. To help put 137 runs on the board in the first innings, Kirton smashed 49 runs off 35 balls, while Movva made 37 runs off 36 deliveries.
The surface slowed down a little bit during the chase, and Canada took advantage of that. Ireland lost wickets like a house of cards, but their bowlers did a great job carrying out the plans. Mark Adair and George Dockrell displayed some character towards the end, but not enough. By keeping Ireland to just 12 5 runs, Canada won the game by a margin of 12 runs.
1. The all-encompassing victory of Canada
Although they got off to a rough start, Kirton and Movva’s collaboration transformed things for Canada. They eventually won handily against a Test-playing country, looking excellent with the bat and ball. After the victory, Canada climbed to third place in the standings and will now take on Pakistan.
2. Indifferent With the bat, Ireland appeared illiterate.
Ireland’s hitters let them down, despite their bowlers performing comparatively well. The Paul Stirling-led team’s contest was destroyed when they lost five wickets in six overs. To make a comeback in the competition, they must greatly improve.
Losing skipper Paul Stirling said:
Tough loss today, we weren’t at the races today. The target was gettable, we didn’t think we’d struggle too much. We were off in all three facets today, we need to show a better game when we go to Miami and Florida. We don’t want to look too far into the future, we’ve got USA next.
Winning skipper Saad Bin Zafar said:
Very proud moment for the team. The way Kirton and Movva batted, we knew we had a good total to defend. We needed a good performance from the bowling unit and I am so proud on my bowlers for putting their hand up and delivering. The wicket got a bit slow today, so it worked to our advantage.
We gambled with an extra spinner and I feel both myself and Zunaid bowled really well. One game at a time, we need to enjoy this win and come back strong against Pakistan. We are here to play positive cricket.
POTM Nicholas Kirton said:
Bouncing back from the first game was important. Trust me, it wasn’t that easy. Just tried to get in, get the pace of the wicket. Honestly it wasn’t that bad. There was an area in the middle of the wicket that was a bit up and down, but otherwise it was a good wicket to bat on.
Very good to get our first win in the WC. Hopefully we can continue from strength to strength. Our next focus is Pakistan. Two spinners bowled very well. Bit of purchase on offer. We spoke about adjusting pace and that area in the middle that was a bit up and down. Just taking it one day at a time.