Photo by Mark Kolbe- ICC/ICC via Getty Images
New Zealand is the first team of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, to enter the Semifinals after they beat Ireland at the Adelaide Oval. This was also Ireland’s last match of the tournament. They came a long way from where they started and they can go back with some positives.
New Zealand beat Ireland by 35 runs. New Zealand has been consistent with qualifying for the Semifinals of the ICC T20 World Cup since 2011. Ireland on the other hand has been the surprise factor of this edition of the ICC T20 World Cup. They have shown the cricketing world that they are here to prove something.
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Nonetheless, the hat trick could have been more helpful because New Zealand still managed to score 185 in their first innings.
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It was not a usual Williamson inning. He opted to go after the Irish bowlers and scored runs quickly. William scored 61 off 35 till Joshua Little brought his bowling magic.
Finn Allen, Devon Conway, and Daryl Mitchell gave useful cameos of 32, 28, and 31 respectively. New Zealand has been a batting force in the tournament and it was difficult for Irish bowlers to restrict them to a low score.
Ireland got off to a good start in their second innings. Paul Sterling is a force in the powerplay overs. He uses the advantage of the powerplay and looks to go ariel. The Irish captain Andrew Balbirnie also got a good start today. The opening pair put up a 68 run partnership till Santner got the wicket of the Irish captain in the 9th over.
Once the opening pair was dismissed, the Irish batsmen just crumbled. There were no other batsmen who could get Ireland even close to the target. George Dockrell did try to pull something off but he could not go past a score of 23 runs.
It was a good day for the Kiwi bowlers. Except for Trent Boult, all other bowlers picked up a few wickets. The star bowler for the Kiwis today was Lockie Ferguson. He was economical and he got two important wickets. The Kiwi spinners have been constant with wickets. Santner is Williamson’s go-to man when they can’t break through.
So New Zealand is off to the semifinals as they wait to see who out of England and Australia will join them. This is the last round of matches in the league setting and it all comes down to the very end.
