The World Cup Story- 6: Unexpected Ireland

(This is the 6^th article of the series of 8 articles)

Still new to the World of Cricket, I bow down to the grit shown by the team members of Ireland. Making their second appearance in the World Cup, the Irish put up a pretty decent performance with some famous upsets to their name. I can never forget their famous victory over Pakistan in the last World Cup where they bowled out Pakistan for 132 runs and then chased down the target in a close match by losing 8 wickets in hand. What a match it was!! In the same World Cup they also defeated Bangladesh thus making the Tigers their second scalp. First qualifying for the Super Eights stage and then giving the other teams a healthy competition, it was incredible what the Irish did.

The Ireland Cricket Team won over Plenty of Hearts through their Brave Performances and will be sorely missed in the next World Cup

In this edition of the World Cup as well, the Irish team continued their good form. Despite having lost the first match against Bangladesh, they gave the Tigers stiff competition. As the target was merely 205 runs and had Ireland played bit more sensibly, then they could have easily won the match. The only thing lacking in them was experience. After this match came the first upset of this World Cup and it was England who were on the receiving end of it. Not merely a win but a convincing win as they chased down 327 runs, with Kevin O’Brien playing the major role in this win. The match against England seemed one sided till Mr. Brien played an emphatic knock and sent the Irish fans on their feet.

Their next match against India was also a close one because at one stage some quick wickets and Ireland seemed well set for another win. Still Porterfield made a mark in that match through his brilliant 75. This time it was the bowling department which required some more discipline. Followed up was a match against West Indies where the Irish gave a stiff competition to the Caribbeans but sadly on the losing side. This time KO Brien was in the limelight for picking up 4 wickets. In the batting Wilson and Joyce who made significant contributions, making sure that the team lived up to its reputation of not going down without a fight.

Against the Proteas, they failed to turn up and live up to their potential and thus the huge margin of defeat prevailed. In their final match against the Netherlands they again chased down a target above the 300 mark and this time with a new star Stirling with his maiden World Cup century, thus ending the World Cup on a very convincing note as they won over Holland by 6 wickets.

Despite failing to qualifying for the quarters, the Irish surely had a great World Cup, winning over plenty of hearts in the process. For a minnow team which has raised so many eyebrows through their brave performances, the ICC’s decision to leave Ireland out of the next World Cup is shocking and raises plenty of questions.

Also read Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5