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After USA, Canada causes an upset, surprises Ireland by 12 runs
Canada became the first team in the ongoing T20 World Cup not only to play the full 20 overs but also to break the jinx of crossing the 100 mark by putting up 137 for seven wickets in Nassau county stadium
Canada secures first win at the T20 world cup in New York / X/@ICC
Former Test cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Sidhu claims that North America is a land of opportunities, and the USA and Canada's participation in their first T20 World Cup has proven that.
While the United States, as an associate member of the International Cricket Council, surprised regular (test-playing) member Pakistan in Dallas the other day, Canada prepared a series of surprises for the more fancied Ireland at Nassau County Cricket Stadium on June 7.
Canada won by 12 runs to record its first-ever T20 World Cup win. It joins India at the joint number two position in the group table with a win each, behind the leaders, the USA, with two wins. India plays Pakistan on June 9 in what is expected to be the biggest clash of this World Cup.
Incidentally, it was the first game where winning the toss did not prove lucky for Ireland. Canada became the first team in the ongoing T20 World Cup not only to play the full 20 overs but also to break the jinx of crossing the 100 mark by putting up 137 for seven wickets. In the previous two games played at the same venue, no team could enter the three-figure mark or play full quota of 20 overs.
Following criticism of the unpredictable bounce and behavior of "drop-in" pitches, the ICC promised better opportunities for both batters and bowlers at Nassau. Canada justified the ICC statement by scoring nearly seven runs per over and crossing the dreaded 100-mark, thanks to some crisp batting by Nicholas Kirton (49 from 35 balls, three boundaries, and two sixes) and Shreyas Movva (37 from 36 balls, three hits to the fence). Kirton and Movva shared a 75-run fifth-wicket partnership.
Canada WIN in New York!
— ICC (@ICC) June 7, 2024
A superb bowling performance from them against Ireland sees them register their first Men's #T20WorldCup win #CANvIRE | : https://t.co/rYLPhX7ldC pic.twitter.com/axdtyEFrDg
Navjot Sidhu, Harbhajan Singh and Balaji, all former Indian Test cricketers, were at the stadium as commentators. They are all in agreement that pitches usually take some time to settle down, and that bowlers are equally important in a game of cricket, though in instant cricket, such as T20, batters typically hog the limelight with the most hits.
“What if the bowlers have restricted batters to smaller aggregates in this event? After all, they also must have a level playfield to show their skills,” remarked Harbhajan Singh in a presser on the sidelines of the event.
After a good show with the bat, Canadian bowlers, too, came to their own as they had the Irish batsmen under check. After Andrew Balbirni and skipper Paul Stirling put up 26 runs for the opening wicket, pacer Jeremy Gordon struck sending Paul back to the pavilion.
After losing six wickets for 59, Ireland had a fighting seventh-wicket partnership between G. Dockrell and Mark Adair. The two carried the score past 100-mark, thus making it the first game in the tournament that saw both sides score over 100 runs, and a 50-run partnership before the end of the 18th over.
Ireland had set a challenge to score 28 runs in the last two overs to avert an upset at the hands of Canada. It was Gordon, who came in to bowl the last over and came to the rescue of his team.
After a dot ball, he had the big-hitting Mark Adair caught and bowled to end the 62-run seventh-wicket partnership and make the score 121 for seven. A near-miss run out on the penultimate ball left Ireland 12 runs short of the target thus giving Canada its first-ever victory in T20 World Cup. G Dockrell remained unbeaten on 30 made from 23 balls.
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