NEW YORK   -   A gutsy fifth-wicket partnership between Nicholas Kirton and Shreyas Movva, followed by a tight bowling display led Canada to upset Ireland in the 13th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here at Nassau County International Stadium on Saturday.

Ireland, just like Canada, had a poor start to their innings as after losing their skipper Paul Stirling for just 9 runs, the Irish batters continued to lose wickets and they were soon 59-6 in 12.3 overs with all of their batters namely Andrew Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker, Harry Tecot and others walking back to the pavilion without scoring big runs.

George Dockrell (29 off 22) and Mark Adair (34 off 24) were Ireland’s top performers with the bat but their brave effort was not enough to guide their team to victory. For Canada, Jeremy Gordon and Dillon Heyliger bagged two wickets each while Junaid Siddiqui and skipper Saad bin Zafar picked one.

Earlier in the first innings, Canada set a 138-run target. They had a poor start as the Irish bowlers dominated and removed their top order in the first nine overs for just 53 runs. It looked like yet another low-scoring encounter in New York but Nicholas Kirton and Shreyas Movva saved them.

The two batters combined for a crucial 75-run partnership which steered Canada to a defendable total. Kirton played a commendable knock, missing out on his well-deserving half-century by just one run as he got out after scoring 49 runs on 35 balls.  

However, Movva remained on the wicket till the last ball and helped his team conclude their innings at 137-7. For Ireland, Craig Young and Barry McCarthy took two wickets each while Gareth Delany and Mark Adair managed to get one each.

Canada captain Saad Bin Zafar said: “Very proud moment for me as a team. Ireland bowled well and took three wickets, and put us on the rope. Once we got to 137, we knew it was a good total to defend. We needed a good performance from each and everybody. So proud of each and every bowler that they delivered when it mattered. Wanted to go pace upfront, but I saw that the wicket was a bit slow today... It wasn’t easy to get under the ball. It’s one game - and one day - at a time, and we’re going to come strong against Pakistan as well. It’s very important [to get that support]. Cricket is growing in the country.”

Scores in Brief

CANADA 137-7 (Nicholas Kirton 49, Shreyas Movva 37; Craig Young 2-32, Barry McCarthy 2-24) beat IRELAND 125-7 (Mark Adair 34, George Dockrell 30*; Jeremy Gordon 2-16, Dilon Heyliger 2-18) by 12 runs.