The 2022 edition of the T20 World Cup will be celebrated and etched in the minds of the cricketing world. It has shown why this format is so beloved and the opportunity it provides to nations across the world to showcase their skills and compete against the absolute best in the business. England’s defeat to Ireland, Zimbabwe’s triumph against Pakistan and Namibia’s spirited display of skills were all magical moments.
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New Zealand certainly could not afford to discount the Irishmen and needed to be charged on from the first ball, as a victory itself would not guarantee them a semi-final berth. Andrew Balbirnie won the toss and elected to bowl first, in a move to extract the seam and swing in the first few overs and push New Zealand on the backfoot. Finn Allen came out with great intent and attacked the bowlers, getting out on the last ball of the powerplay with the score reading 52/1. The skipper walked in with the field restrictions being lifted, which certainly with his poor strike rate and inability to accelerate was advantage Ireland. Devon Conway and Kane Williamson struggled to find the boundaries during a spell of tight and precise bowling by Ireland.
The eleventh over, the first after the drinks break has seen a trend of batters attacking and trying to score boundaries and skipper Williamson did just that to Fionn Hand, smashing 18 off his over. Conway fell shortly after and out walked the tournament hero for the Kiwis, Glenn Phillips who played his shots to an eventful 17(9) before hitting one straight to deep extra cover. Williamson continued to attack along with Daryll Mitchell and reached his fifty in style. In the process of going all guns blazing, New Zealand crumbled in the death as wickets tumbled, making their way to a total of 185-6.
Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie, the two most experienced players in the squad started their innings on a great note with some crisp shots all over the ground. The scoreboard read 68-0 after 8 overs but the Kiwi spin twins, spun their web around the Irish batters with change pace and flight. They outfoxed the batters and shared 4 wickets between them, halting the chase before the fast-bowling duo of Ferguson and Southee closed out the game. The skipper took the player of the match award and New Zealand won by 35 runs in a great boost to their NRR, will fancy their chances of making the semis unless their neighbours pull off a heist for the ages!
