Had this been a football match, the emotions in Ireland and England would have been running high.
Collingwood blasts 90 off 82 balls as England recover from uneasy start to beat Ireland by 48 runs; Flintoff shines with both ball and bat
GEORGETOWN (Guyana): Had this been a football match, the emotions in Ireland and England would have been running high. For such is the fierce nature of their competition. But in cricket, even the Irish recognise themselves as underdogs — that, however, doesn’t stop them from straining every sinew on the field.
“I don’t think you can expect to win against the quality of opposition we’re playing,” Ireland skipper Trent Johnston said in his modest manner before the game.
“We’re quietly confident we can give them a good show.” And that is exactly what they gave but alas, it wasn’t good enough to get them a win.
In their first match of the Super 8s, England scored 266 for the loss of 7 wickets with Paul Collingwood’s 90 off 82 balls being the top score. In reply, Ireland were never able to put their foot down on the accelerator and were bowled out for 218, 48 runs short of the target.
In Boyd Rankin, the 6’7” paceman from Derry, Ireland possess a bowler of potential and his double blow right at the beginning made England set their sights much lower.
He got Ed Joyce, the opening batsman who switched allegiance from Ireland to England last year, off his first ball of the match for one, shouldering arms to a delivery that came in just enough to thump into his off-stump. England skipper Michael Vaughan continued to his degeneration into an average batsman by being dismissed for just 6.
England never quite managed to get going and their 200 came up only in the 45th over of the innings.
Then in the push for quick runs, Paul Collinwood sparkled as they put on 65 runs in the last five overs.
But perhaps the turning point of the match was during the England innings when Irish skipper Johnston decided to not bowl out Rankin (7-0-28-2) and Langford-Smith, two of his best bowlers and bowl himself in the slog overs.
His last three overs cost 38 vital runs; runs that most definitely spelt death for his side’s aspirations.
Scorecard
England: 266-7
Ireland: W Porterfield c Bell b Flintoff 31, J Bray c Bopara b Anderson 0, E Morgan run out 2, N O'Brien st Nixon b Vaughan 63, A Botha c Flintoff b Panesar 18, K O'Brien lbw b Panesar 12, T Johnston b Flintoff 27, A White c Nixon b Collingwood 38, W McCallan b Flintoff 5, D Langford-Smith lbw b Flintoff 1, B Rankin not out 4; Extras 17
Total (All out in 48.1 overs) 218
FoW: 1-6, 2-11, 3-72, 4-116, 5-139, 6-139, 7-197, 8-209, 9-210.
Bowling: Anderson 7-1-35-1, Mahmood 8-2-34-0, Flintoff 8.1-1-43-4, Collingwood 6-0-38-1, Panesar 10-1-31-2, Vaughan 9-0-34-1
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}