ICC Cricket World Cup : Irish Storm at Chhinaswamy

Critics who were questioning the involvement of associates in ongoing world cup got their reply as Ireland backed by Kevin 0′Brien wonderful display of power hitting stunned England with a famous 3 wicket win here at Chhinaswami stadium in Bengeluru.It was one of the most memorable days for Irish more so for O’Brien as he became fastest man to score world cup century bringing it up in mere 50 deleviries.Such was his strength he clubbed english bowlers all round the park through his 63 ball 113.

Being set a mammoth taget of 327,Irish lost their captain Porterfield of the very first ball bowled by Jimmy Anderson.Stirling came & played aggresively but couldn,t quite convert the start he got into a big match winning knock.At 111/5 the Irish chase was going nowhere but O’Brien had other ideas.He was positive right from the outset playing proper cricketing shots,in the process added 162 for 6th wicket with Alex Cusak who played second fiddle to O’Brien but the need of the hour demanded amalgamation of caution & aggresion.Where O’Brien was didainful in his approach,Cusak was more circumspect churning the strike over keeping score board ticking.

When Cusack lost his wicket ,Irish still needed 55 & it could have been anybody,s game,however Mooney after initially struggling to get going started to find his feet.He was the dominant partner in the seventh wicket stand.Still there was bit of a twist as O’Brien was run out in the penultimate over.Johnson ,who came in next cover drove the first ball he faced from Broad for four thereby bringing the equation to single digit.In the end it was left to Mooney to do the finishing job as he clipped Anderson to midwicket for four to spark widespread celebration in Irish contingent.

Earlier, led by Jonathan Trott‘s 92, England’s top order continued its productive form as they posted a hefty 327 for 8 against Ireland in Bangalore. Trott, who equalled the record for reaching 1000 ODI runs in fewest innings by matching the 21 taken by Viv Richards and Kevin Pietersen, added 167 for the third wicket with Ian Bell as the Irish attack struggled to stem the scoring rate on a flat surface although late wickets restricted the onslaught.But in the end it was all about O’Brien breathtaking knock which included 6 towering sixes ,one of them going for a distance of 102 metres,the largest so far in the tournament.The highlighting point of his partnership with Cusack was the batting powerplay in which the duo added more than 50 runs with O,Brien going berserk.It was another treat for Benguluru crowd which witnessed one of the greatest run chases in world cup history.Irish confidence would be sky high going into the next game against India.MSD will surely have somethinf to ponder over specially after today,s Irish performance.