Matches involving Ireland are quickly becoming some of the most exciting in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, and their match with India on Sunday 6th March 2011 at Bangalore, was no exception.
Having set a moderate total of 207 All Out from 46.5 overs, having been put in by India, Ireland bowled and fielded tightly, taking regular wickets, as India narrowly edged over the winning line with 210 for 5 wickets coming in 46 overs, meaning that India won by 5 wickets.
Irish opener, Porterfield (75) and number four Niall O’Brian (46) top scored in an otherwise disappointing top half of their batting order, which saw Stirling out first ball, bowled by Khan, and Ed Joyce (4) went four balls later to the same bowler.
But the main damage was done by the man-of-the-match, Yuvraj Singh, who collected five wickets for 31 runs from 10 overs, as well as knocking up an important 50 Not Out with the bat.
All of India’s batsmen, except opener Sehwag, who was caught and bowled Johnson with a leading edge, got a start, though only Yuvraj Singh made 50 as Ireland regularly winkled them out when they looked poised to accelerate.
However, India were never really out of their comfort zone, and took their time and patience in building a successful run chase. That being said, a couple of extra wickets for the Irish in the middle of the innings, and they could easily have picked up their second big scalp of the tournament: write off these men in green at your peril.
India now lead Group B, level on points with England, who have played (and lost) one extra match.
India v Ireland – ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Scorecard
India won the toss and elected to field.
Ireland 1st Innings | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | ||
Porterfield | c Harbhajan Singh | b Yuvraj Singh | 75 | 104 | 6 | 1 |
Stirling | b Z Khan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
Joyce | c Dhoni | b Z Khan | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
N O’Brien | run out (Kohli) | 46 | 78 | 3 | 0 | |
White | c Dhoni | b Yuvraj Singh | 5 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
K O’Brien | c and b | Yuvraj Singh | 9 | 13 | 1 | 0 |
Cusack | lbw | b Yuvraj Singh | 24 | 30 | 3 | 0 |
Mooney | lbw | b Yuvraj Singh | 5 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
Johnston | lbw | b Patel | 17 | 20 | 2 | 0 |
Dockrell | c Dhoni | b Z Khan | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
Rankin | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
Extras | 6nb 8w 4lb | 18 | ||||
Total | all out | 207 | (47.5 ovs) |
–
India Bowlers | O | M | R | W |
Z Khan | 9 | 1 | 30 | 3 |
Patel | 4.5 | 0 | 25 | 1 |
Pathan | 7 | 1 | 32 | 0 |
Harbhajan Singh | 9 | 1 | 29 | 0 |
Chawla | 8 | 0 | 56 | 0 |
Yuvraj Singh | 10 | 0 | 31 | 5 |
–
India 1st Innings | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | ||
Sehwag | c and b | Johnston | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
Tendulkar | lbw | b Dockrell | 38 | 56 | 4 | 0 |
Gambhir | c Cusack | b Johnston | 10 | 15 | 2 | 0 |
Kohli | run out (K O’Brien) | 34 | 53 | 3 | 0 | |
Yuvraj Singh | not out | 50 | 75 | 3 | 0 | |
Dhoni | lbw | b Dockrell | 34 | 50 | 2 | 0 |
Pathan | not out | 30 | 24 | 2 | 3 | |
Extras | 5w 4lb | 9 | ||||
Total | for 5 | 210 | (46.0 ovs) |
–
Ireland Bowlers | O | M | R | W |
Rankin | 10 | 1 | 34 | 0 |
Johnston | 5 | 1 | 16 | 2 |
Dockrell | 10 | 0 | 49 | 2 |
Mooney | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
Stirling | 10 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
White | 5 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
K O’Brien | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Cusack | 3 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
India win by 5 Wickets.