Ireland became one of the two teams to seal an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 berth from the ongoing Europe Qualifier following a washout against Germany on Thursday. The match between Ireland and Germany was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain on Thursday, 27 July.
Ireland remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, having registered victories against Italy, Denmark, Austria, and Jersey before their clash against Germany resulted in a washout, as per ICC. This means, after five games, Ireland now have a total of nine points with one more game remaining against Scotland. Following their 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier heartbreak, Ireland made a strong comeback in the Europe Qualifier as they secured a spot in next year’s T20 World Cup.
Ireland opened their account in this tournament with a close-fought victory over Italy by seven runs. Having set a target of 158 from their 20-overs quota, they restricted Italy to 151/9. Curtis Campher top-scored for the Irish side with a 39-ball 61 while Harry Tector contributed with a brisk 41. Against Denmark, they secured a dominant nine-wicket victory with skipper Paul Stirling and his opening partner Andrew Balbirnie making quick fifties to chase down a paltry target of 122. Mark Adair and Barry McCarthy led the bowling attack, claiming three wickets apiece.
In their next two games, Ireland once again registered big wins – by 128 runs against Austria and by nine wickets against Jersey. In the clash against Austria, Ireland recorded a big total of 226/4 powered by Lorcan Tucker’s unbeaten 94. Their solid batting performance was well complemented by their bowling attack. Mark Adair led from the front with figures of 4/13 from 3.4 overs, bundling Austria out for 98. In their encounter against Jersey, McCarthy yet again starred with the ball, snaring three wickets by giving away only seven runs at just 1.80. Only Jersey’s wicketkeeper-batter Asa Tribe scored in double-digits (26) as the rest of the line-up crumbled, posting a meagre 78/9. Ireland chased down the target in just 10.2 overs with nine wickets in hand.
After the rained-out game against Germany, skipper Stirling expressed his joy in having booked their berth for the T20 World Cup. ‘While it is true that we would rather have achieved qualification on the field today, we are delighted to have achieved our primary objective of qualifying for next year’s T20 World Cup. We came to Scotland with a clear plan and style of play we wanted to implement, and I think we delivered on that front’, said Stirling as quoted by ICC. ‘So, we will celebrate job done this afternoon, but there is a trophy on the line tomorrow and we are keen to continue that winning momentum going into the India T20 series next month’, he added. One more spot is still up for grabs in the Europe Qualifier, with Scotland leading the race needing just one point to join Ireland in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
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