All-rounder Paul Stirling cracked a 72-ball 101 as Ireland completed their World Cup campaign on a winning note despite their group stage exit with a six-wicket win over Netherlands on Friday.

The Dutch had posted a competitive 306 from their 50 overs on the back chiefly of 106 from Ryan ten Doeschate and 84 from skipper Peter Borren.

But their innings dramatically ran out of steam with their last four wickets falling in successive balls, all from run-outs, as they chased valuable extra runs in the final over from Kevin O’Brien.

From early in the Irish innings it was clear that the Dutch total would probably be found wanting on a batsman’s delight of a wicket.

Stirling and captain William Porterfield (68) put on 177 for the first wicket and all their batsmen went on to make useful contributions before Kevin O’Brien lofted a huge six over long off to overhaul the Dutch total with 14 balls to spare.

It was a low point for the consistently impressive ten Doeschate to finish his World Cup campaign as he joined a select band to score his second century at this World Cup.

The powerful Dutchman slammed a superb 106, including 13 fours and a six, to join South African AB De Villiers and India’s Sachin Tendulkar as the only players so far to score two hundreds in this tournament.

The Dutch had gone into the match without a win from their previous five matches but after a dreadful start in which they lost Eric Szwarczynski (1) and Tom Cooper (5) with only 12 on the board, ten Doeschate rebuilt their innings.

After he departed, caught by John Mooney off spinner Stirling, Borren carried on the assault on the Irish bowlers with 84, including 10 fours off 82 balls.

Source: Times of India

South Africa produced a dominant bowling performance to beat the Irish by 131 runs in their World Cup Group B clash at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday.

Ireland were expected to put up a fight against the Proteas and they did meet the expectations for some time with the ball.

Duminy came in and arrested the slide and took South Africa to safety. Ireland never really recovered after the early strikes by Morne Morkel.

To their credit the South Africans never gave them any breathing space and kept it very tight throughout with their bowling as the minnows were all out for only 141 in 33.2 overs.

Ireland will be pleased with their bowling effort though there still seems to be slight concerns over the performance of the top order. Ireland seem to have run out of steam and will do well to win the game against Netherlands.

South Africa are through to the quarters and seem to be peaking at the right time.

Ireland sunk into real trouble as Robin Peterson struck twice in his fifth over to remove Gary Wilson and big-hitting Kevin O’Brien.

There was no magic from Kevin O’Brien this time as he went for a big shot of a Robin Peterson ball and ended up lofting it straight to long off where Amla took a dolly.

Kallis claimed Niall O’Brien after Morne Morkel struck in his consecutive overs to dismiss Ireland openers.

Paul Stirling gave a thick edge to a short pitched ball of Morkel and Kallis took a simple catch in the slip.

Earlier, JP Duminy missed out on a century but rescued a shaky South Africa batting effort to drag the Proteas to 272-7 against the minnows.

Duminy topscored with 99 from 103 balls, sharing an 87-run stand with World Cup rookie Colin Ingram (46) and a half-century partnership with Johan Botha after a fighting Irish performance in the field had South Africa struggling at 117-5.

George Dockrell took a fine diving catch on the boundary to dismiss opener Hashim Amla for 18 and Graeme Smith (7) and Jacques Kallis (19) were both run out.

Morne van Wyk hit a quickfire 42, but also fell early in South Africa’s carefree start, before the composed Duminy dragged the Proteas to a respectable total.

Duminy hit six fours and a six, but played a measured knock initially after South Africa’s top order had tried to be too attacking against the Irish and paid for it.

Needing to win its remaining Group B games against the South Africans and Netherlands to keep alive hopes of a place in the quarterfinals, Ireland had recovered from two missed catches and had South Africa’s top order reeling.

But Duminy delivered a 13th career ODI half-century and eventually fell one short of a maiden World Cup century when he skied a shot off John Mooney (1-36) and was caught three balls from the end.

Ingram supported him at better than a-run-a-ball after being called into the team in place of injured batsman AB de Villiers.

Botha finished 21 not out, while leftarm spinner Dockrell ended with 1-37 off 10 overs and was one of five Irish bowlers to take a wicket.

Amla and Van Wyk were both out to loose shots and Smith and Kallis fell to slick work from Ireland’s fielders. When Faf du Plessis (11) edged to Trent Johnston at slip off spinner Paul Stirling in the 27th over, South Africa had lost five wickets and was facing a major shock.

Duminy came to the rescue, hitting just two fours for a carefully constructed half-century, before accelerating to lead South Africa to a defendable total on a green-tinged pitch which will likely suit the South Africans’ pace bowling attack.

Amla had unleashed a cover drive for four and then a pull shot for six off Boyd Rankin in the fifth over as the Proteas targeted an attacking start at Eden Gardens after being put in to bat.

But he didn’t see out the over, sending a top edge flying down to third man where Dockrell clung on to a diving catch.

Van Wyk’s incident-filled innings included the two dropped catches, a flurry of boundaries and the run out of Smith.

Van Wyk was put down on 4 and 23, but he also carved out seven boundaries and a six.

He was missed first by Kevin O’Brien at short cover _ with O’Brien unable to hang on to a blistering drive.

Despite the warning, the wicketkeeper batsman continued to go for his shots, lofting fours over mid-on and mid-off in the eighth and hitting successive boundaries off Rankin in the ninth.

He was dropped by Stirling off a straightforward chance at slip and was also to blame for Smith’s run out, suggesting a single before sending the skipper back to the non-striker’s end where he was beaten by Mooney’s superb direct hit.

Dockrell ended Van Wyk’s stay with a delivery that beat an attempted cut shot and rattled the stumps to reduce South Africa to 84-3.

Ireland’s fightback in the field continued when Kallis was surprised by captain William Porterfield’s throw from short midwicket and wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien whipped off the bails.

Kallis had struck three early boundaries for his 19 from 31 balls but the TV umpire judged him just short of his crease to put South Africa in real trouble.

Du Plessis departed as the wickets continued to tumble, before Duminy, Ingram and then Botha saved South Africa from embarrassment.

Source: Times of India

West Indies staved off Ireland’s spirited challenge for a 44-run win in a Group B match to inch closer to the quarter-finals of the World Cup on Friday.

Ed Joyce (84) and Gary Wilson (61) fought bravely but Ireland could manage only 231 before losing all their wickets in 49 overs to fall well short of West Indies’ total of 275.

Wilson will consider himself very unlucky after being dismissed under controversial circumstances and the UDRS debate will rage on.

Sammy led from the front with the ball and kept it very tight in the initial overs delivering three maiden overs on the trot. Ireland will take a lot of pride having been in the game for a long time while West Indies continue to improve with another strong win.

Earlier, opener Devon Smith hit a maiden one-day century and Kieron Pollard smacked 94 off just 55 balls as West Indies posted 275 all out against Ireland in the World Cup on Friday.

Smith hit a 133-ball 107 and Pollard belted eight fours and five sixes to frustrate the Irish who won the toss and put the Caribbean side in to bat on an easy-paced track at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.

Smith also shared 89 runs with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, opening the innings after Chris Gayle was ruled out on the morning of the match with an abdominal strain.

Kevin O’Brien, who struck World Cup’s fastest hundred against England, showed he had the skills with the ball as well, grabbing a career-best 4-71.

A victory for West Indies will virtually assure them of a place in the quarterfinals while Ireland can keep their last-eight hopes alive if they manage to pull off an upset win.

“We took the batting powerplay early because we had been slow at the start and we wanted to see what would happen,” said Pollard.

“I came in during the 32nd over and tried to get runs quickly. I’ve been backing myself and the team was in a bit of trouble.

“I just wanted to see how long I could bat. Devon Smith batted superbly. My arm is a bit stiff but I’m looking to have a bowl. We didn’t get as many runs as we wanted.”

Ireland fast bowlers kept things tight in the first 15 overs and did well in the last seven overs, taking the last five West Indies wickets for 53 runs.

The Irish had to wait till the 25th over to pick their first wicket when Chanderpaul (35) chipped O’Brien to short extra cover where captain William Porterfield took a low catch.

O’Brien struck again three balls later in the same over when he uprooted the middle-stump of Darren Bravo before the promising left-hander could even get off the mark.

Left-arm spinner George Dockrell, introduced into the attack late in the 30th over, had Ramnaresh Sarwan caught in the deep for 10 to reduce the West Indies to 130-3.

Ireland were left to rue missed chances against Pollard who was let off twice early in his innings with John Mooney messing up a simple run-out chance and Gary Wilson grassing a catch off Andre Botha.

Pollard punished the Irish, hitting O’Brien for two sixes in four balls to race to his third ODI half-century off 35 balls.

O’Brien returned to take two more wickets, again in the same over, to dismiss Smith and Darren Sammy while John Mooney sent back Pollard and Andre Russell in two balls.

Source: Times of India

Yuvraj Singh saved the blushes for India, allowing them to hide the ordinary effort from other spinners, by picking his maiden five-for to restrict Ireland to 207 before he hit an unbeaten fifty to settle India’s nerves in a hard-fought win in Bangalore. Ireland enhanced their reputation by defending the target with disciplined bowling and excellent fielding and made India huff and puff to the victory line.

On a dry pitch, where the ball came on slowly, the Indian batsmen preferred to play within themselves and tried to play risk-free cricket but kept losing wickets at regular intervals to keep Ireland interested in the chase. India were 24 for 2 in the sixth over, reached 100 for four at the fall of Virat Kohli in the 24th over, and recovered to 167 for 5 when MS Dhoni exited in the 41st over before Yusuf Pathan flexed his muscles to hasten the end.

Ireland could have done far better had they not stumbled against Yuvraj’s bowling. They were eyeing a 250-plus target after a 113-run third-wicket stand between William Porterfield and Niall O’Brien but a run out opened a window for Yuvraj to trigger a collapse. The most significant moment of the innings came in the 27th over, with Ireland sitting pretty on 122 for 2, when a set Niall O’Brien couldn’t make it in time to beat the throw from Virat Kohli in the covers. Dhoni did well to collect the slightly wayward throw and flick it onto the stumps. It was the beginning of the end.

As ever, Yuvraj ambled in like a Sunday-park bowler and as always proved to be street-smart. His art is very simple: he turns the ball slightly but his USP is the variation in pace, using a scrambled seam. He is usually slow and slower but surprises the batsmen with a quicker one. Today, too, he struck to his regular staple diet of slower ones; some were delivered with a round arm, some from higher straighter arm, and some with a crouched bent-knee release to get the ball to skid on.

If you just catch the highlights of his wickets, most would seem like soft dismissals. To an extent they were, but that’s the illusion of nothingness he provides the batsmen, who then make seemingly silly mistakes. Andrew White was sucked into edging a flighted delivery to slip, Kevin O’Brien tapped one softly back, Porterfield swatted a short ball straight to cover and John Mooney and Alex Cusack were trapped by skidders that came in with the arm. When White fell in the 30th over, Ireland were 129 for 4 and by the time Yuvraj got Cusack, Ireland had slid to 184 in the 44th over.

Until then, India were looking really ragged in the field. Only Zaheer Khan bowled well to take two early wickets and William Porterfield and Niall O’Brien played risk-free cricket to lay a good platform. Their case was helped by some ordinary bowling from the spinners. Harbhajan Singh looked off-key, straying on to the pads once too often, Yusuf Pathan erred on length, often dragging them short, and Piyush Chawla hit the wrong lines.

None of that profligacy was seen in Ireland’s bowling effort. Trent Johnston, who is the top wicket taker for Ireland, hit two vital blows early, that included the wickets of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, to ensure India’s wouldn’t waltz to an easy win. Almost immediately, Porterfield brought in the teenaged left-arm spinner George Dockrell, who turned in a pleasing opening spell that read 4-0-14-0. He rarely gave anything to cut, always bowled slow through the air and was never afraid to flight. He had Kohli mistiming a few shots and made Tendulkar bat cautiously. Success came in his second spell, when he struck in his first delivery of the 21st over, trapping Tendulkar with a delivery that went past the attempted sweep. He could have got the wicket of Kohli, too, in his next over but Niall O’Brien, the keeper, couldn’t hold on to an edge. Later, he trapped MS Dhoni lbw with a delivery that straightened on the middle and leg to give a window of hope for Ireland but Yusuf Pathan shut it very quickly with two monstrous sixes in the same over.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at ESPNcricinfo

It took the fastest ever century in World Cup history from Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien to put England’s ICC Cricket World Cup campaign in disarray.

Kevin O’Brien hit the fastest hundred in World Cup history to send England to an astounding three-wicket defeat at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

O’Brien (113) came to the crease when damage limitation seemed the best his team could hope for, after they lost three wickets for eight runs to falter to 111 for five in apparently vain pursuit of 327 for eight.

But he responded with an innings of immense power, smashing six sixes and 13 fours in a 50-ball hundred and dominating a stand of 162 in 17 overs with Alex Cusack (47).

No one in the England attack was safe, with Graeme Swann (three for 47) the lucky one that he managed to complete his full 10-over allocation before O’Brien began his assault in earnest.

England did not help themselves, dropping five catches in all, including O’Brien and Cusack once each.

In the end even O’Brien’s run-out, trying to scamper a second run at the start of the 49th over, could not stop Ireland getting home with five balls to spare.

After O’Brien had very nearly finished England off, John Mooney clipped the winning four to midwicket in company with Trent Johnston.

Jonathan Trott (92) and Ian Bell (81) had been England’s main batting contributors, the former also bagging a place in cricket history as the joint-quickest batsman to 1,000 one-day international runs.

But he was relegated from headline to footnote by O’Brien’s unexpected heroics.

Ireland’s prospects of pulling off a tournament record chase under lights appeared decidedly slim, and all the more so after they lost captain Will Porterfield to the first ball of their reply under lights.

They needed a good start yet got the polar opposite when Porterfield inside-edged an attempted cover-drive at a wide ball from James Anderson back on to his stumps.

Paul Stirling and Ed Joyce gave England, and Stuart Broad in particular, something to think about in a second-wicket stand of 62.

But Stirling got underneath a pull at Broad’s replacement Tim Bresnan and was caught at deep square-leg in the 10th over.

Joyce then mis-pulled successive Bresnan deliveries and could easily have gone to either, on 21. But first of all, Anderson’s lunge in from midwicket was not quick enough – and then wicketkeeper Matt Prior spilled a high, swirling chance.

New batsman Niall O’Brien was dropped on five at long-off, where Anderson parried a big hit at Swann for six.

The consolation for England seemed to be that a repeat of the fielding mishaps they endured in their first match against Holland would surely not matter too much in this match.

So it still seemed when Niall O’Brien missed a slog-sweep at Swann, who had a second wicket when Joyce went up the pitch and was easily stumped after failing to cover the spin.

Swann was in business again when Gary Wilson was trapped lbw sweeping.

But that merely brought O’Brien and Cusack together for what turned out to be the match-turning partnership.

Many huge blows had already been inflicted by the time Andrew Strauss dropped a tough skier, running back behind the bowler from extra-cover after O’Brien brutalised a ball from Paul Collingwood skywards on 91.

Cusack then escaped a tough caught-and-bowled chance to Mike Yardy on 32.

England finally got the breakthrough when Cusack failed to regain his ground after a mix-up over a single.

But O’Brien knew he had done all the hard work, and was in no mood to give England a route back into a match they had once appeared to be coasting.

Trott had earlier passed his 1,000 ODI runs in only his 21st innings, apparently serving his team well with an exact run-a-ball tempo.

He shared a third-wicket stand of 167 with Bell, after Kevin Pietersen (59) and Strauss had predictably got England off to a blistering start.

Strauss, who won the toss, and Pietersen immediately set about the opposition’s new-ball pair Boyd Rankin and Johnston.

The in-form captain was first to go, after a stand of 91 in less than 14 overs, when he tried to paddle-pull slow left-armer George Dockrell off his stumps and was bowled round his legs.

It was an odd shot, and Pietersen also went tamely – soon after reaching his first half-century as an ODI opener, from only 41 balls, when he attempted to reverse-sweep off-spinner Stirling but somehow presented a simple catch to wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien.

Trott and Bell therefore had to start again, yet lost little noticeable momentum doing so.

Neither gave a chance, Trott profiting again from his risk-free accumulation to help keep England above six-an-over almost throughout.

He survived Bell, who chipped a full toss low to a tumbling Stirling at straight midwicket off Mooney.

There were still 55 runs in powerplay. But after Trott also went short of his hundred, bowled aiming a big hit at Mooney (four for 63), England faltered and could manage only an under-par 70 in the last 10 overs.

Former Ireland captain Johnston kept tight lines to bowl Prior and Yardy and become the first bowler to take 50 ODI wickets for his country.

England had ended their innings with a whimper, but it seemed highly unlikely to cost them – until O’Brien’s muscular and mesmeric intervention.

Source: ESPN STAR Cricket

Bangladesh’s bowlers held their nerve to atone for the failures of their batsman, as the pluck of the Irish proved insufficient to overcome the most fervent atmosphere of the World Cup so far. In a gripping, low-scoring encounter at Mirpur, Bangladesh flirted with disaster as they squandered a flying start from Tamim Iqbal to crash to 205 all out, and when Ireland reached 93 for 3 at the halfway mark of their reply, they were well on course for a hugely deserved victory. However, six wickets for the Bangladeshi spin quartet set the stage for a flying finish from Shafiul Islam, who claimed 4 for 21 in eight hostile and reverse-swinging overs, to seal a wildly acclaimed victory by 27 runs with five overs to spare.

The result was tough on the Irish who, like the Netherlands earlier in the week, gave the match their all and deserved a Test-playing scalp as their reward. But the belief and unity of the Bangladeshis had to be seen to be believed, as they dusted themselves down after a chastising performance with the bat, and set about defending their meagre total with skill, tenacity and some sublime commitment in the field. Mohammad Ashraful, whose mercurial batting once again let him down when the heat was on, proved a revelation with the ball, as his spin-bowling all-sorts picked up two vital wickets inside the first 19 overs, and whose subsequent celebrations imbued both his team-mates – and perhaps more crucially, a rammed and expectant Mirpur crowd – with belief.

There will be many higher-profile fixtures than this in the coming weeks, but few could prove as pivotal to the fortunes of two teams who exceeded expectations four years ago in reaching the Super Eights in the Caribbean. Ireland’s hopes of playing in the 2015 tournament hinge on their ability to produce this sort of performance in each of their next five matches, to convince the ICC that they deserve their place at the top table, but more immediately, Bangladesh’s victory gives them a real chance of pushing for a quarter-final place that their form in home internationals suggest could be attainable.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Bangladesh started the match with the same aplomb with which they finished, bringing their fans to their feet in a thrilling first four overs, in which Tamim’s blistering volley of strokeplay lifted the score to an imposing 41 for 0. However, Ireland are a more resourceful side than meets the eye, and the early decision to reduce the pace on the ball slowly but surely changed the tide of the contest. Trent Johnston and John Mooney drew the sting of the innings with their unrelenting line and length, but it was left to the teenaged spinner George Dockrell to inflict the telling blows.

Dockrell twirled straight through his ten overs, claiming 2 for 23 with a performance brimful of guile. His agonisingly slow pace through the air left all the batsmen groping in their defences, scared of taking on the long straight boundary for fear of being beaten in flight, and his two dismissals were carbon-copies of one another – a crease-bound Mushfiqur Rahim paddle-swept to Andrew White at short backward leg to end a doughty innings of 36, before Ashraful followed suit for 1 in the very next over.

Ireland’s commitment in the field was unstinting. Ed Joyce and White pulled off a direct-hit run-out apiece, the first to remove Junaid Siddique for 3 – a dismissal which undermined Bangladesh’s early momentum following the loss of the opener Imrul Kayes to an expert leg-side stumping from Niall O’Brien – and the latter to extract Raqibul Hasan for 38, at precisely the moment he looked set to guide the tail to a comfortable 200-plus total. But the one telling shortcoming was the performance of their quickest bowler, Boyd Rankin. His nine overs went for 62 – the most expensive analysis of the day – including a poor final over that went for 11.

Pace off the ball was the secret on this deck, at least until such time as the Irish tail was exposed to Shafiul’s old-ball wiles. He was given just the one over with the new ball in Ireland’s innings, before Shakib turned to the spin pairing of Abdur Razzak and Naeem Islam. The tactic paid dividends in the sixth over of the innings, when Paul Stirling yorked himself while advancing to Razzak, and was stumped by Mushfiqur as the ball dribbled off the pads and past his off stump.

With the pressure intense in spite of the small target, Ireland’s captain, Will Porterfield, set himself to make the most of every scoring opportunity. He had launched the innings in confident style with a second-ball drive off Shafiul through point, and he added a second four when Naeem dropped short at the end of his third over. But Shakib, Bangladesh’s captain and senior spinner, struck with his first delivery, as Porterfield attempted a flick off the back foot, and instead popped a simple catch to Raqibul Hasan at short midwicket.

O’Brien, however, was the right man to enter the fray. He was the hero of a tense run-chase in Jamaica four years ago, when Ireland stunned Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup, and two fours in the same Shakib over were the perfect tonic for his team’s frayed nerves. In partnership with the England veteran, Ed Joyce, he picked off the singles and gnawed away at the target, before Joyce, on 16, attempted to drive against the spin, and popped a simple chance to Mohammad Ashraful.

Ashraful celebrated as if the match was already won, which it self-evidently was not at 75 for 3 in the 19th over. However, the belief in the Bangladesh team was picked up on by the crowd, and the roof was raised six overs later, when Andrew White, on 10, played a lazy pushed drive from deep in the crease to be bowled through the gate.

It was a dismissal that increased the Irish jitters ten-fold, but it was nothing compared to the dismissal of O’Brien three overs later. With a rock-solid 38 from 52 balls to his name, he was tempted to put too much bat through a lofted clip into the leg side, and Tamim at deep square leg hurtled in to snaffle a brilliant low catch inches from the turf. At 110 for 5, Bangladesh were right back in the contest and O’Brien’s self-recriminations were revealing. With an asking-rate of four an over, there was simply no need for such risks.

His brother Kevin, however, chose his big shots more judiciously – at least at first. An up-and-under six over long-on was the first and only maximum of the match, and he added two more kitchen-sink clumps in Ashraful’s ninth and final over, which went for 14. But at 151 for 5 in the 37th over, when all that was required was a cool head and an exchange of singles, O’Brien was suckered by Shafiul’s short ball, and launched a pull straight to the substitute, Suhrawadi Shuvo, at square leg.

From that moment on, Ireland’s hopes began to evaporate. Naeem nailed Mooney for an eight-ball duck, as he tried a flat-footed cut but edged into his stumps, and three balls later, the obdurate Andre Botha played all round a full-length delivery that crashed into his leg stump. With Shafiul on a roll, surfing the crowd’s delirium and zipping the ball at pace from a full length, the tail were unable to resist. Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign is up and running. Ireland’s, despite their best endeavours, must start all over again against England next week.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo

England inched their way into the Super Eights after a tense washed-out contest at Providence, as the same Guyana weather that had contributed to their downfall against West Indies came to their aid in a fraught and low-scoring contest against the underdogs of Ireland.

After being limited to a mediocre 120 for 8 following a superb bowling display led by Trent Johnston, England had restricted Ireland to 14 for 1 after 3.3 overs of their reply, but persistent bad weather denied them the chance to complete their run-chase, and so England went through by virtue of a superior run-rate.

It was a cruel way for Ireland’s campaign to come to an end, because on a slow and cracked surface, their battery of medium-pacers had forced England to scrap for each and every single. And, in an ironic twist, the only man who came close to mastering the requirements was none other than the former Irishman, Eoin Morgan, who stood firm with a determined 45 from 37 balls.

The scenario was much as it had been when the teams last met in an international fixture, on a sticky surface at Belfast back in August, and then as now, the veteran Trent Johnston led the line impeccably. With lateral movement from a tight and full length, he claimed 1 for 14 in his four-over spell, with just a solitary boundary in his 24 deliveries, as Michael Lumb pulled a fractional short ball through midwicket for four.

Whereas Lumb and Craig Kieswetter had started like the clappers against West Indies on Monday, this time they found the shackles hard to break. Boyd Rankin spoiled his figures with a brace of leg-stump long-hops that Lumb clipped round the corner for two welcome boundaries, but that same shot soon proved to be his downfall, as Boyd Rankin stooped at short backward square to cling onto a sharp chance from the first ball of Kevin O’Brien’s spell.

One ball earlier, Kieswetter had been badly dropped by Andre Botha as he edged a lifting seamer from Johnston through the slips, but he couldn’t make his good fortune count. In Johnston’s next over, he set off for a suicidal single to short midwicket and was rightly sent back by the stationary Kevin Pietersen. As he dived, his bat bounced in the crease, and after a lengthy analysis the third umpire, Asad Rauf, sent him on his way for 13.

In the same Johnston over, England’s innings really hit the skids as Paul Collingwood edged a fizzing seamer to Botha at slip, who this time made no mistake to send the captain on his way for a third-ball duck. At 32 for 3 at the end of the Powerplay overs, England had made almost half as many runs as they had managed in their first six overs against West Indies, for the loss of three more wickets.

And three soon became four as Pietersen – who had been engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse with the 17-year-old left-arm spinner George Dockrell – picked out John Mooney with an exocet to deep square leg off O’Brien, in a near-replica of his dismissal in the West Indies game. At the halfway mark of the innings, England were floundering at 49 for 4, with all of their hopes invested in a certain former Irishman, Morgan.

Morgan did what he could in the trying circumstances, clipping Alex Cusack through short fine leg before bludgeoning Dockrell through midwicket, but at the other end, Luke Wright found the conditions especially tough to negotiate, and Dockrell tied him in knots in a masterful fourth over, consisting of five dot-balls in a row followed by a wild top-edged mow that landed in no-man’s land for a single.

Ireland’s reply was an anxious affair for both sides. England started diligently enough through Tim Bresnan and Ryan Sidebottom, but having conceded four runs from eight deliveries the rains arrived to force a 30-minute delay – much to Andy Flower’s chagrin, who was seen banging the dressing-room table in disgust.

No overs had been lost when play resumed, and four balls after the resumption, Lumb took off at deep midwicket to cling onto a full-blooded pull to remove Paul Stirling for a duck, but Niall O’Brien belted two fours in a row moments before the second interruption to improve Ireland’s hopes of a favourable Duckworth-Lewis calculation.

Had the match been able to resume 15 minutes before the cut-off time of 4.59pm local time, Ireland would have been set a target of 61 in nine overs. But it was not to be, as rain saved England, only 24 hours after apparently robbing them blind. Twenty20 is indeed an unpredictable form of the game.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo

Pakistan 159 for 5 (Akmal 57) beat Ireland 120 for 9 (Porterfield 40, Ajmal 4-19) by 39 runs…

Requiring a win to move into the semi-finals, Pakistan accomplished just that with an efficient performance, easing past Ireland by 39 runs at The Oval. The margin was also sufficient to lift their net run-rate to 1.19, ensuring there’s no way both New Zealand and Sri Lanka can finish with as many points and a higher rate.

Pakistan’s last World Cup game against Ireland had ended in grief, but here they seemed aware of the threat posed by their feisty opponents: after winning the toss Pakistan played within themselves but yet managed 159, thanks largely to a well-paced 57 by Kamran Akmal. Ireland’s batting is clearly their weaker suit, and considering their highest in the tournament so far is only 138, a target of 160 was always likely to be a tough ask. And so it proved, as they finished on 120.

Apart from Akmal, none of the other Pakistan batsmen got big scores, but there were reasonable partnerships for almost every wicket, ensuring there was no repeat of the collapse which had knocked Pakistan out of the 2007 World Cup. Ireland, as usual, made the opposition work for their runs, with Boyd Rankin being the stand-out bowler, but the inability to get wickets meant Pakistan finished with 27 more than they had managed in the 50-over game in Jamaica a couple of years back.

Akmal held the innings together with a measured knock. The confidence of having scored runs in the earlier games was clearly on display, and he was decisive with his footwork and generally sound with his shot selection. He began with a pick-up shot over midwicket for six off the hapless Trent Johnston, and continued to play both the meaty shots and the deft ones: a scoop over fine leg off Alex Cusack went for four, as did crisp drives through cover off the left-arm spin of Regan West.

Shahzaib Hasan and Shahid Afridi, promoted up the order to No.3, didn’t go on to get bigger knocks but they provided the early impetus. Shahzaib kept lofting the pitched-up deliveries over the infield with varying degrees of success till his luck finally ran out, while Afridi thrashed Cusack and West through the off side before Kyle McCallan deceived him with a superb slower, tossed up, offbreak.

Along with Rankin’s fiery burst with the new ball, McCallan’s clever bowling was the highlight for Ireland in the field. Rankin kept it tight and was desperately unlucky not to pick up a wicket, while McCallan’s outstanding flight and change of pace ensured none of the batsmen dominated him. Johnston had a nightmare game, conceding 20 in his second over and 12 in his third, as batsmen picked him off their legs quite effortlessly, but even he redeemed himself with an excellent fourth over, picking up Akmal with a yorker and conceding only four runs.

Ireland gave little away in the field, and yet a target of 160 was always beyond them. William Porterfield fought gustily for his 36-ball 40, but hit his first four in the tenth over of the innings, by which time the asking rate had already climbed to nine and a half. Paul Stirling, playing his first game of the tournament, showed some promise in his 17, which included an impeccable cover-drive to get off the mark, but the big difference between the two sides was in their boundary-hitting abilities – Pakistan struck 13 fours and four sixes; Ireland only managed six fours.

Pakistan’s bowlers were all disciplined, with Mohammad Aamer getting rid of the dangerous Niall O’Brien early. Afridi and Saeed Ajmal offered few scoring opportunities, while Umar Gul continued from where he had left off against New Zealand, knocking over the stumps thrice, including once off a free-hit ball, and then scoring a direct hit to run out Regan West.

A dropped catch by Abdul Razzaq late in the innings was a small blot, but overall it was a polished performance by a team which is increasingly looking like a sound bet for the title.

S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo

Sri Lanka 144 for 9 (Jayawardene 78, Cusack 4-18) beat Ireland 135 for 7 (Malinga 2-18) by nine runs…

Mahela Jayawardene saved his team’s blushes with 78 from 53 balls, as Sri Lanka moved a step closer to the semi-finals with an awkward but ultimately comfortable nine-run victory over the unfancied Irish at Lord’s. After winning the toss and batting first, Sri Lanka were restricted to a modest total of 144 for 9 by a disciplined Ireland bowling performance in which the medium-pacer Alex Cusack excelled with 4 for 18 in three overs. In reply, Will Porterfield and Niall O’Brien raised the prospect of a famous win by adding 59 for the first wicket, but the variety and experience of Sri Lanka’s attack eventually proved overwhelming.

At Trent Bridge on Thursday, Ireland had been no match for New Zealand as they slumped to an 83-run defeat, but this time they remained competitive even after a damaging double setback in the 15th over of their reply, when Ajantha Mendis removed both the dangerous O’Brien brothers, Kevin and Niall, in the space of four deliveries. Ireland carried on swinging until the bitter end, even as Lasith Malinga further undermined their chase with consecutive yorkers to bowl Trent Johnston and Andre Botha, but their final requirement of 18 runs from Malinga’s final over of the innings unsurprisingly proved too much.

For Sri Lanka, Ireland’s challenge came as an unpleasant but timely jolt after their impressive progress in the tournament to date. Their aspirations of a 200-plus total were knocked as early as the second ball of the match, as Tillakaratne Dilshan – their batsman of the tournament so far – top-edged the recalled Boyd Rankin into the safe gloves of Niall O’Brien, running round to square leg.

Rankin, who had been rested during Ireland’s 83-run drubbing against New Zealand, caused problems galore with his extra lift off a good length, and when Johnston at the Pavilion End removed Kumar Sangakkara for 3 from 10, courtesy of another smart catch from O’Brien, Sri Lanka had been restricted 28 for 2 in their six Powerplay overs – second only to England’s 25 for 3 against South Africa as the slowest start to any innings in the tournament so far.

Jayawardene and Sanath Jayasuriya pieced together the innings with a third-wicket stand of 67 in 49 balls, but it was a becalmed performance by their usual pyrotechnic standards, and it wasn’t until the 11th over of the innings that they finally scored their first and only six, as Jayawardene cracked Cusack over midwicket.

Jayasuriya, so dangerous when offered width, didn’t clear the ropes once in his run-a-ball 27, an innings that came to an end when he went down on one knee to slog-sweep the spin of McCallan, and was adjudged lbw much to his chagrin. McCallan, who bowled with guile and deception, then added a second wicket one over later, when Chamara Silva this time connected as he swung across the line, but picked out Rankin on the square-leg fence.

With overs running out, Sri Lanka squandered their wickets with a puff of aggressive smears. Jehan Mubarak skied Cusack to Niall O’Brien, running round to short cover, and Cusack followed up three balls later with the key scalp of Jayawardene, who gave himself too much room for the cut, and was bowled with 12 deliveries remaining. Nuwan Kulasekera clobbered his third delivery, from Rankin, to John Mooney at long-off, before Angelo Mathews stepped outside the line to sweep and was bowled behind his legs by Cusack.

One delivery later, and Cusack had four when Muttiah Muralitharan charged down the track to be stumped, and he could even have claimed an incredible fifth from the last ball of the innings, had Kevin O’Brien at long-on managed to intercept an Ajantha Mendis slog that bounced away for four.

With a manageable target of 145 in his sights, Ireland’s captain, Will Porterfield, took it upon himself to launch their reply in style, as he hoisted Mathews through midwicket for four, before milking Kulasekera for three boundaries in six balls, including a guided cut through a packed off-side field and a sweetly timed sweep from consecutive deliveries.

At the other end, however, disaster very nearly struck when Niall O’Brien backed up too far as Porterfield belatedly turned down a quick single to short cover, and ricked his troublesome right ankle as he stopped, slid and flung himself on all fours back into his crease. During a lengthy delay it appeared as though O’Brien’s tournament might be over, but eventually he returned to his feet and, without the aid of a runner, set about taking the attack back to Sri Lanka.

Although he was hobbling visibly, O’Brien’s first shot in anger after his injury was a spectacular reverse pull off Mendis that belied any apparent lack of mobility, and he followed up with two fours in two balls as Mathews returned to the attack in the ninth over – the first a crisp cover-drive, the second a more fortuitous inside-edge. Though Porterfield was caught behind two balls later off Muralitharan, his 31 from 29 balls had given Ireland a platform to attack, with 86 still required from the final 10.5 overs.

Murali, however, proved typically tough to get away, as did Jayasuriya, whose solitary over went for seven runs. When Malinga served up a brilliant second over of yorkers, bouncers and genuine pace, Ireland’s requirement had leapt to exactly ten an over. Andrew White made good on that demand when he pulled Kulasekera over backward square for six before drilling him through the covers for four one ball later.

But before the over was finished, White’s aggression brought about his downfall as Kumar Sangakkara snaffled a top-edged scoop off the pads, and Ireland’s hopes were extinguished in the next over when both O’Brien brothers fell in the space of four balls. Kevin O’Brien attempted a wild slog through midwicket but steepled a swirling catch to Tillakaratne Dilshan, before Niall charged at a short ball that tweaked past his blade, and Sangakkara completed a regulation stumping.

After that bodyblow, Ireland’s challenge fell away, although Mooney kept them fighting to the bitter end with 31 not out from 21 balls. After their disappointing performance against New Zealand, this was a timely display against one of the acknowledged tournament favourites, but now there will only be pride to play for in their final Super Eight fixture against Pakistan later this week.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo

New Zealand 198 for 5 (Redmond 63, Guptill 45*, Styris 42) beat Ireland 115 (Nathan McCullum 3-15) by 83 runs..

The Black Caps dominated Ireland from start to finish as they put their injury woes behind them to complete a convincing win.

Aaron Redmond battered the Irish attack with 63 from just 30 balls before Martin Guptill (45 not out off 32 balls) and Scott Styris (42 off 25 balls) made sure the onslaught continued over the second half of the innings as they amassed 198-5.

Ireland got off to the worst possible start in their run-chase when Kyle Mills deflected a straight drive by Gary Wilson onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end, with captain Will Porterfield (1) out of his crease backing up.

Ian Butler then dropped a juggling catch at wide mid-on when Wilson was on five but Niall O’Brien (3) fell in the next over when he tamely drove to Jacob Oram at mid-on.

Wilson (23) and Andre Botha (28) lifted Irish spirits in a perky third-wicket stand of 42 before both then fell in consecutive overs.

Wilson picked out James Franklin on the extra cover boundary, who took a good low catch, off Scott Styris and then the previous bowler turned fielder to effect a run out when Botha was sent back going for a single.
With that went any – albeit unlikely – hope for Ireland to cause another shock.

Alex Cusack (20 off 12 balls) hit out defiantly for a while but when he became the first of two wickets to fall to Nathan McCullum the end was nigh.

Trent Johnston (14) became the fourth run-out victim before Mills comprehensively bowled Regan West to finish the Irish off.

Redmond, who had been drafted into the squad to replace Jesse Ryder (virus), had earlier got his campaign off to a flyer with three boundaries in the first over- bowled by Peter Connell.

The right-hander then smacked Johnston for four more boundaries in the seamer’s opening six balls as he quickly moved to 30 from 10 balls.

Kevin O’Brien put a block on the scoring, conceding just two in his initial burst, but life got no easier for Johnston as Redmond plundered another two boundaries at the start of his second over.

O’Brien’s earlier miserliness was diminished when Brendon McCullum deposited a full-toss into the stand at square leg – the 100th six of the tournament.

The 50 came off just 28 balls as New Zealand seemed intent on getting the job done as quickly as possible.
Kyle McCallan dismissed McCullum (10) with his second delivery, when the stand-in captain picked out mid-off, but that did little to upset the balance of power.

Redmond upset the off-spinner’s line in his second over when he reverse-swept for consecutive fours to bring up his 50 (off 23 balls) and then ended the over with another boundary to midwicket.

Guptill joined in the fun when he picked up an O’Brien slower ball for six and then hit another boundary to long-off as the Black Caps sailed along to 95-2 at the midway point.

Redmond went during that 10th over when he was trapped leg before in Alex Cusack’s first over by a delivery that kept low as he ventured to work the ball to the on-side.

West put down a fairly simple caught and bowled chance off Styris (on 16) as the third-wicket pair reached their 50-stand off 34 balls.

Styris celebrated the landmark by clubbing McCallan over midwicket for six and then hit his first four (after three sixes) over extra-cover. The all-rounder succumbed to the next ball when he was well caught low down by Kevin O’Brien at deep backward square-leg.

The entrance of Oram failed to stem the flow of runs as he added 15 off seven balls before he was caught on the cover boundary.

Peter McGlashan (5) was bowled when he opened up his stumps looking to paddle the ball over the on-side, only to be bowled by Johnston.

Guptill ensured the Black Caps carried their onslaught through to the last, hammering the largest six of the day into the upper tier at wide mid-on off Cusack and then picked out the same area in the final over – off Johnston – for his fourth maximum to lift his side to the second highest total in the tournament thus far.

The Black Caps will hope captain Daniel Vettori (shoulder) and Ross Taylor (hamstring) will soon return to fitness for tougher challenges ahead but their progress without them has been encouraging thus far.