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Sri Lanka (163/6) begin their ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign with a 20-run victory against Ireland (143)

It was not gonna be easy. These are not typical T20 flat decks. Add the WC pressure with 5 or more dropped catches, it becomes a less likely chance.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
Zimbabwe are rated lower than even Ireland. Not sure where this is coming from

SL are easily qualifying for Super 8.
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Afghanistan unfortunately is in the group of death with SA and Nzl. In another group they would have been super 8 contenders. This forcing India- Pak games and making it easy for them to progress groups screws up the true value of the competition.
 
Local.Dada said:
Afghanistan unfortunately is in the group of death with SA and Nzl. In another group they would have been super 8 contenders. This forcing India- Pak games and making it easy for them to progress groups screws up the true value of the competition.
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They were in the group of death even last time with Windies and NZ.

It's just that NZ batting is much stronger this time.
 
Ireland batsmen need a bit of protein shots to their arms. All of their hits looked weak. Very meek surrender in the end.
Even USA players who are a bunch of H1B visa holders were hitting big shots. Very disappointing chase from the Irish team.
 

Ireland let Sri Lanka off the hook at World Cup​


Ireland could not overcome a host of errors in the field as they fell 20 runs short of Sri Lanka to lose their T20 World Cup opener.

Having failed to win a game at this tournament two years ago and never beaten Sri Lanka, Ireland got the desired return from their spinners as the co-hosts were restricted to 104-4 through 16 overs.

George Dockrell was the pick of their bowlers and accounted for the wicket of opener Pathum Nissanka for 24 thanks to a fine catch from skipper Paul Stirling.

The rest of Ireland's work in the field was not nearly as exemplary, however, with five drops, four of them in the final four overs as Sri Lanka tacked on a further 59 runs, making the chase all the tougher.

Despite an apparent hamstring injury, Wanindu Hasaranga accounted for the key wickets of Ross Adair, Harry Tector and Curtis Campher as Ireland were bowled out for 143 in 19.5 overs.

With Ireland winning the toss and electing to bowl, it was an early test of how the side's spinners would adjust not only to the conditions but superior opposition

Through a three-match series with Italy and two against the UAE in their preparations, Heinrich Malan's side eventually settled upon a bowling attack missing the out-of-sorts Josh Little.

A change facilitated by the bowling renaissance of Dockrell, the decision to leave out Ireland's most dangerous quick was vindicated as the spinners stymied Sri Lanka in the middle overs.

Dockrell led the way with figures of 2-17, ably assisted by Gareth Delany whose one wicket came at the cost of 24 runs. With Sri Lanka 50-1 after the powerplay, eight consecutive overs of spin held them to just 87-4 as they were frustrated.

Having hit Barry McCarthy's final delivery of the powerplay for four, the co-hosts would not find another boundary until Kamindu Mendis brought up his side's 100 in the 16th over.

With Sri Lanka having finally saw the back of Delany and Dockrell, the partnership of Kamindu Mendis and Kusal Mendis were belatedly able to accelerate ahead, although they were helped in no small part by Irish errors in the field.

There were three drops in the space of four 17th-inning deliveries from Matthew Humphreys, who will feel his figures of 0-44 should come with an asterisk.

With Sri Lanka powering from 104-4 to 163-6 across the final four overs of their innings, Ireland's target was much tougher.

While Ross Adair always felt the most likely to open the batting with Paul Stirling, there was still a decision to be made between the 31-year-old and Tim Tector coming into this tournament.

After averaging 14 across the five warm-ups at the top of the order, Ireland's faith in the man who hit a T20 century against South Africa in 2024 again appeared wholly justified when, despite some less than aesthetic moments, he quickly motored to 34 thanks to five fours and a six.

But, after contributing two of those five drops in Sri Lanka's innings, Adair had another moment to forget when taking a wild heave at the bowling of a hobbling Hasaranga and having his stumps uprooted.

Without the thump of Adair and Stirling, who was earlier out for six after facing 13 balls, Ireland relied upon the running of Lorcan Tucker and Tector to keep the game in the balance.

The required run-rate was always on the rise though and, as Ireland tried to find the accelerator, miscues followed in their attempts to find the boundaries.

By the time Maheesh Theekshana accounted for Ben Caltiz and Delany with consecutive deliveries, Ireland required 44 from the final 20 balls and never looked primed to chase down the tally.

Things get no easier in Group B with Ireland set to face Australia on Wednesday (09:30 GMT), while Sri Lanka are next in action a day later against Oman (05:30 GMT).
 
Ireland had a chance for sure. But the non asian teams as Ire, Scot, Nethr cant play spin well in asian conditions.
 
Mas-LFC said:
Ireland had a chance for sure. But the non asian teams as Ire, Scot, Nethr cant play spin well in asian conditions.
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Ireland had a golden chance. They are probably out now.

Anyway, Zimbabwe can still knock out SL. Let's see how that game pans out.
 
IRE should have swapped group with BD. They never really had any chance against SRL spinners. Hopefully, we reduce invitations to IRE in the future. Otherwise, I myself will boycott BCB. :kp
 
BDfanforever said:
IRE should have swapped group with BD. They never really had any chance against SRL spinners. Hopefully, we reduce invitations to IRE in the future. Otherwise, I myself will boycott BCB. :kp
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Ire, Zimba, not to be ever invited again. No more charities to them. Bcb always helped these two with many series in between. I’d rather no cricket for a 7-8months than play them two at home.
 
Ireland were far too sloppy in the field. So many dropped catches. They had the opportunity to punish Sri Lanka but they let it slip through their fingers. Literally.
 
BDfanforever said:
IRE should have swapped group with BD. They never really had any chance against SRL spinners. Hopefully, we reduce invitations to IRE in the future. Otherwise, I myself will boycott BCB. :kp
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Didn't Ireland beat Bangladesh in one of the T20Is when they last toured?
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Congrats. Here's your invisible medal for beating Ireland in a 3-match T20I series at home
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BD have won T20 series against England, Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, New Zealand, Afghanistan.

BD fans don't have to celebrate win against Ireland. There are many other great wins like 3-0 win against England, 1-4 win against Australia, 3-2 win against NZ etc. :dav
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Acknowledging that Bangladesh is a terrible T20 team is not a biased thing to say at all. It's an assessment backed up by verifiable data and results.
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Bangladesh is a team that hovers between #8 and #10.

What you are doing is stating the obvious. It seems like you want a pat on the back for stating the obvious. :dav

It is like saying sky is blue. We all know sky is blue.
 
Anyway, back to topic.

This game was a copycat of USA-India game.

I really thought Ireland could chase this down. They have a much better batting side than USA.

Ireland were too slow during the first 10 overs. That turned out to be decisive.
 
sweep_shot said:
Bangladesh is a team that hovers between #8 and #10.

What you are doing is stating the obvious. It seems like you want a pat on the back for stating the obvious. :dav

It is like saying sky is blue. We all know sky is blue.
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Do you actually read what you write? You're asking me to remember that Bangladesh beat Ireland in a T20I series, as if that is some kind of accomplishment. And then you're acting like I'm stating the obvious?

You need to learn a little humility instead of having this 'we're better than them' attitude while talking about the associates. Associate teams play half of, or one-fourth of the cricket that Bangladesh plays in a given year and practically no cricket at all against top teams. And yet they still find ways to embarrass Bangladesh every now and then and compete against top teams in ICC tournaments. Also, no major team loses to associates more than Bangladesh.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Do you actually read what you write? You're asking me to remember that Bangladesh beat Ireland in a T20I series, as if that is some kind of accomplishment. And then you're acting like I'm stating the obvious?

You need to learn a little humility instead of having this 'we're better than them' attitude while talking about the associates. Associate teams play half of, or one-fourth of the cricket that Bangladesh plays in a given year and practically no cricket at all against top teams. And yet they still find ways to embarrass Bangladesh every now and then and compete against top teams in ICC tournaments. Also, no major team loses to associates more than Bangladesh.
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That attitude is a reaction to hyperbolic claims (mostly by indians and some sri lankans) to the tune of "Irish have always trashed Bangladesh", "Afghans can beat BD with their 2nd string" (though BD has come better off against Afg often),
Scotland can trash Bangladesh 9 times out of 10 and so on
 
LongHorn said:
That attitude is a reaction to hyperbolic claims (mostly by indians and some sri lankans) to the tune of "Irish have always trashed Bangladesh", "Afghans can beat BD with their 2nd string" (though BD has come better off against Afg often),
Scotland can trash Bangladesh 9 times out of 10 and so on
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Irish have trashed Bangladesh? When? :inti

Looks like these bhakts truly live in an alternative reality. They manufacture all sorts of fake news.

Afghanistan trashed Bangladesh before. Not Ireland. Ireland have never beaten BD in a series. A few one-off wins happened but Ireland did that to quite a few teams (England, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies etc.). :inti
 
Champ_Pal said:
Ireland batsmen need a bit of protein shots to their arms. All of their hits looked weak. Very meek surrender in the end.
Even USA players who are a bunch of H1B visa holders were hitting big shots. Very disappointing chase from the Irish team.
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Yeeaahh...Indians need to provide some tips to IRISH of all to attain strength...heard it all here 😀. Of course, those shots had nothing to do with lack of timing or not middling the ball. How sloppy of Irish to fail in their MAJOR sport.
 
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