Ireland stun England with huge run-chase
BANGALORE: Kevin O’Brien smashed the fastest hundred in a world cup match on Wednesday to inspire Ireland to a memorable victory over England in the Group B match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
Kevin O'Brien. Courtesy: AP Photos
Kevin O’Brien completed his hundred from just 50 balls and eventually amassed 113 runs from only 63 balls with the help of 13 ferocious boundaries and six towering sixes at the P Chinnaswamy Stadium as England bowlers once again hammered by opposition posing serious threat on their ability to win their side matches.
Graeme Swann. Courtesy: AP Photos
Batting first, England batsmen once again did their job in great fashion scoring a huge total of 327 runs for the loss of eight wickets from their 50 overs.
Jonathan Trott, who scored 92 runs from as many balls, became the fastest man to complete 1000 runs in the One Day International cricket and joined his team mate Kevin Pietersen and West Indian great Sir Vivian Richards. All of these batsmen achieved the feat in 21 matches.
Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell. Courtesy: AP Photos
Ian Bell also played a crucial role as he scored 81 from 86 balls after skipper Andrew Strauss (34 from 37) and Kevin Pietersen (59 from 50) gave them an electrifying start.
JF Mooney was the best bowler for Ireland as he grabbed four wickets for 61 runs while DT Johnston also captured two scalps for 58 runs from his 10 overs.
Kevin O'Brien of Ireland. Courtesy: Getty Images
In reply, Ireland lost their skipper Porterfield for a first-ball-duck. However, Stirling (32 from 28) and Ed Joyce (32 from 61) somehow repelled the early threat and added 61 runs for the second wicket partnership. Niall O’Brien (29 from 36) also showed resolve but failed to prolong his effort and demise of GC Wilson (3 from 14) from the hands of impressive Graeme Swann (3/47) put the cricket minnows in all kinds of problems as they looked down the battle at five down for just 111 runs on the board.
Ireland celebrate victory over England. Courtesy: Getty Images
Kevin O’Brien had other plans. He along with AR Cusack (47 from 58) decided to use the long handle and destroy the English bowling attack with some lusty blows as the duo added 162 quick runs for the sixth wicket partnership, thus taking Ireland right back into the hunt.
Later, JF Mooney (33 not out from 30) proved the perfect partner for O’Brien as they took Ireland closer to victory before a mix up at the middle ended a great innings of Kevin O’Brien with Ireland still needing 11 runs from 11 balls.
Kevin O'Brien, Andrew Strauss. Courtesy: AP Photos
DT Johnston then hit Bresnan for a boundary and then on first ball of the penultimate over, Mooney hit the winning runs to create history at P Chinnaswamy Stadium of Bangalore as all the Irish players stormed into the ground to celebrate the unforgettable victory.
Apart from Swann, none of the other England bowlers could impress as the defeat has now opened floodgate of chances of Ireland’s entry into the Test arena. England’s fielding standards were right at the dead end as they dropped number of catches including skipper Andrew Strauss dropping a sitter of Kevin O’Brien. England’s bowling once again looked out of sorts as they were belted for over 300 runs for the second match in a row.
Kevin O’Brien was declared Man of the Match for his super innings of 113 runs.
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