Ireland 180 for 4 (Campher 72*, Dockrell 39*, Leask 1-16) beat Scotland 176 for five (Jones 86, Berrington 37, Campher 2-9)
At one stage, victory had appeared so unimaginable that when Campher hit the successful runs with one over to spare, there have been tears of pleasure among the many few Ireland followers at Bellerive Oval in Hobart. An emotional Campher, who had scored a heroic 72, additionally appeared on the verge of tears whereas speaking to the broadcaster.
Ireland’s win opened up Group B, with all 4 groups in competition to qualify for the Super 12 spherical.
A partnership to recollect
Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie impressed briefly at first of the chase however each batters fell contained in the powerplay. The Scottish spinners then got here into play, eradicating Lorcan Tucker (20) and Harry Tector (14) simply as they have been on the verge of fixing gears. At the drinks break, Ireland had two new batters in Campher and Dockrell they usually wanted 116 runs off 63 deliveries.
The duo paced the chase to perfection, with at the very least one boundary in each over from the eleventh till the end. The tide started to alter within the thirteenth over when Scotland’s in-kind spinner Mark Watt was taken for 18 runs, with Campher slog-sweeping him for six. From there on, Campher maintained the stress, utilizing the width of the crease to toy with the sector. Offspinner Michael Leask was scooped over brief effective leg within the 14th over; Brad Wheal was deposited over cow nook for six within the fifteenth, which yielded 14 runs; and the sixteenth from Josh Davey value 17 runs, with each Dockrell and Campher clattering three boundaries within the area of 5 balls.
Campher and Dockrell performed solely two dot balls between overs 12 and 16. They took the fielders on as the sector placement turned extra defensive because the partnership blossomed. With 4 overs to go, Campher and Dockrell introduced down the required runs to 36. Pressure firmly on Scotland now, Ireland picked off 23 runs within the subsequent two overs to show their as soon as-distant dream of victory right into a actuality. The last touches have been utilized by Campher, the Player of the Match, with a hat-trick of fours within the penultimate over – a end result that left Ireland and Scotland on two factors every after two matches.
Scotland experience on Jones’ 86
After Scotland selected to bat, George Munsey was trapped lbw by a swinging supply from Mark Adair within the second over. The different opener Michael Jones struggled for fluency, scoring solely 11 off his first 15 balls.
The No. 3 Matthew Cross, nonetheless, regarded in chic contact. Relying on his quick arms, Cross raced to twenty off solely 13 balls, and ultimately Jones appeared to seek out his kind too. The increase got here after the powerplay, when Jones pulled Barry McCarthy for six over the brief sq.-leg boundary. Thereafter, Jones’ vary of strokes saved rising even after Cross fell for 28 to Campher
His most efficient areas have been cowl and midwicket. He used his toes in opposition to spinners Simi Singh and Dockrell to go inside out for fours to enter the 30s. Jones then dispatched Josh Little for six by recognizing a brief ball early and rocking again deep in his crease. He reached his maiden T20I fifty off 38 balls with a single by covers within the 14th over. For a second, it appeared that Jones’ innings would finish on 50, however he efficiently overturned an lbw choice that was given out initially by umpire Kumar Dharmasena.
With 5 overs to go, Scotland have been 122 for two, and with wickets in hand, a giant push was anticipated. The acceleration started when Jones clubbed Gareth Delany for six and 4 within the sixteenth over. Berrington fell for 37 to Campher, attempting to start out the seventeenth on a constructive observe, and Jones survived a dropped likelihood in the identical over when Delany put him down at lengthy leg.
After the reprieve, McCarthy supplied Jones a excessive full toss, and the no-ball was pulled for a giant six. He then clubbed Little for 4 down the bottom to succeed in 84, surpassing Sikandar Raza’s 82 as the best particular person rating to date on this T20 World Cup. Jones fell on 86 two balls later, when he holed out to lengthy-on after making an attempt a helicopter-fashion shot that was a mixture between MS Dhoni and Rashid Khan’s strategies. When he fell, Scotland have been already on 170.
They completed on 176 ultimately, a successful complete on most days after the sort of begin Scotland’s bowlers had within the second innings. But it wasn’t sufficient after Campher’s counterattack, which meant that the primary seven matches within the match had been gained by the group that misplaced the toss.
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx
