Canada Makes History by Defeating Ireland
In the first eight editions of the T20 World Cup, Canada never qualified to participate. This year marks their debut, and they made history by securing a victory in their second match of the tournament. Canada defeated Ireland by 12 runs on Friday, June 7.
On a tricky pitch in Nassau, Canada set a target of 137 runs, to which Paul Stirling’s Ireland could only respond with 125 runs. Both teams lost seven wickets each in their innings. This loss marks Ireland's second defeat in two matches, having previously lost to India.
Ireland’s hopes of victory dwindled as they lost six wickets for 59 runs during their chase. Among these, Andrew Balbirnie scored 17 runs and Lorcan Tucker 10 runs, while the others couldn’t reach double figures. George Dockrell and Mark Adair tried to salvage the game with a partnership, but Ireland was already on the back foot.
Dockrell and Adair gave Ireland a glimmer of hope, building a fifty-plus partnership. They needed 28 runs from the last 12 balls. Despite scoring 11 runs in the 19th over, they fell short in the final over, losing Adair’s wicket and adding only four runs.
Canada’s innings also started slowly on the challenging pitch. At 53 runs, they had lost four wickets. Among the early batsmen, only Pargat Singh (18) and Aaron Johnson (14) reached double digits, with Navneet Dhaliwal and Dilpreet Bajwa contributing 6 and 7 runs respectively. Craig Young took the wickets of Singh and Johnson, while Dhaliwal and Bajwa were dismissed by Mark Adair and Gareth Delany.
After losing four wickets, Nicholas Kirton and Shreyas Movva steadied the innings. They formed a crucial 50-run partnership in the 16th over, with Kirton hitting two sixes and a four off Young’s over, adding 18 runs and shifting the momentum slightly in Canada’s favor. Their partnership was broken in the 19th over.
Kirton fell one run short of a half-century, caught in Barry McCarthy's over after scoring 49 from 35 balls, including three fours and two sixes. Dillon Heyliger, who came in at number seven, was dismissed for zero after facing just two balls. Despite Movva’s dismissal on the last ball of the final over, Canada managed to add nine runs. Movva scored 37 from 36 balls. For Ireland, Young and McCarthy took two wickets each, while Adair and Delany took one apiece.
