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MUSCAT – Ireland’s wicket-keeper Stuart Poynter struck a miraculous six over mid-wicket off the last ball as Ireland won its final encounter of the T20I Quadrangular Tournament against Netherlands at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Oman.
Ireland made one change to the line-up from the defeat against Scotland on Friday, with Stuart Thompson replacing Lorcan Tucker. Captain Paul Stirling won the toss and immediately elected to bowl first – the first such opportunity of the tournament.
Once more the Irish bowlers struggled to contain their opponents during the powerplay, and Netherlands raced to 79-0 after the six overs. The Dutch openers, Tobias Visee (78 from 36 balls) and Max O’Dowd (38 from 34 balls) hit a 116-run opening stand in 9.2 overs and looked set to launch their side to a score well beyond 200.
However, the wicket of Visee led to an Irish revival, led by the bowling of Stuart Thompson (4-18) and Paul Stirling (1-13) – at one stage combining to take four wickets in six balls.
Thompson’s four-wicket haul was his career best, and with Stirling, the two bowlers combined at a crucial middle-overs stage to send down six overs for the impressive return of 5-31. A late flurry of boundaries ensured the Dutch score was competitive, and they finished on 182-9.
Image: Captain Paul Stirling claimed 1-13 from three overs
The Irish response did not get off to the best start, losing captain Stirling for four, but Kevin O’Brien (46 from 30 balls) and Andy Balbirnie (83 from 50 balls) put on an impressive 86-run stand to have Ireland well in the hunt at the halfway stage of their innings. Balbirnie’s effort was his best on T20I cricket and included 12 fours and a six in a well-controlled but commanding innings.
The Dutch side sensed an opportunity and Ireland’s middle-order stumbled, losing regular wickets while the run-rate slowed.
Come the final over, Ireland needed 12 to win with three wickets in hand. Two wickets and six runs came from the first four balls, leaving Poynter on strike with 6 needed off two overs. He failed to score off the fifth ball, but then launched an almighty pull shot over mid-wicket off the last to win the match in remarkable circumstances.
Andy Balbirnie was named Player of the Match for his 83 from 50 balls.
Just a few shots of today's match heroes – @spoynter_90 @balbo90 @SRThompson91 @KevinOBrien113. #BackingGreen pic.twitter.com/RuSQsow0Ne
— Cricket Ireland (@Irelandcricket) February 17, 2019
Captain Paul Stirling said about the last ball win:
“Poynter turned down the single off the second last ball, which was the right decision to make with Chevy [Peter Chase] being at the other end. He got one into the deck, slightly a slower ball, and he got a good bit of bat on it and hit it for six – which was brilliant to get the win.”
“[Earlier] it was excellent from Stuart Thompson, he got three wickets in an over at one stage, which has happened twice in this tour already. He’s missed the last two games through a hamstring niggle, and just to come back and bowl like that has been excellent – hopefully now he can go and kick-on with the bat. I think that little period which we were both bowling in tandem tied them down a little bit and kept the score to manageable at least.”
“Their score though was a little under par – the wickets have been excellent out here and the boundaries haven’t been too big, so 180 has been an absolute minimum you need, and 200 is a score where you’re talking that should win you the match. So I think they’ll be a bit disappointed given where they were at the 10-over mark, but we were thankful we could drag them back and make it a total we could chase.”
About the tournament, he said:
“Everything outside the cricket has been absolutely excellent – the facilities have been great and they looked after us really well. This is certainly something we could do on an annual or bi-annual basis. On the field it has been great for us, but we know the tasks now are only going to get tougher and tougher as we go on to Afghanistan. It’s 1.5 to 2 times the step up we’ll need from the standard we played here and we’re really going to have to up our game – but the tournament itself was brilliant.”
That completes the tournament for the men in green, finishing with two wins and a loss. The results see Ireland rise one place up the ICC Rankings, into 17th place.
SCORECARD IN BRIEF
Netherlands v Ireland, T20 International, 17 February 2019, Al Almerat Cricket Ground, Muscat
Netherlands 182-9 (20 overs; T Visee 78, M O’Dowd 38; S Thompson 4-18, B Rankin 2-27)
Ireland 183-9 (20 overs; A Balbirnie 83, K O’Brien 46; P van der Meekeran 4-38, F Klaassen 3-31)
Ireland won by 1 wicket
A full scorecard is available here.
Ireland has recorded a miraculous last-ball victory
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Connaught
