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T20 World Cup, Group A (New York)
Canada 137-7 (20 overs): Kirton 49 (35); McCarthy 2-24
Ireland 125-7 (20 overs): Adair 34 (24); Gordon 2-16
Canada won by 12 runs
Ireland were left on the brink of elimination from the T20 World Cup after they slumped to a 12-run defeat to tournament debutants Canada.
Nicholas Kirton’s 35-ball 49 helped Canada post a respectable 137-7, the highest score at this ground in New York since the tournament began properly.
The dependable Barry McCarthy (2-24) was the pick of the Irish bowlers but they struggled to find any real momentum with the bat.
Between the sixth and 15th overs of their reply Ireland failed to hit a single boundary as their innings stalled.
From a perilous position of 59-6 in the 13th over an Irish victory seemed unlikely but George Dockrell and Mark Adair gave them faint hope with a stand of 62 for the sixth wicket.
However, with 17 required off the last over Adair (34) skied one and was caught leaving Dockrell (30 not out) with too much to do as Jeremy Gordon (2-16) calmly closed out the game for the Canadians.
Ireland must now win their remaining two games – against Pakistan and the USA – and hope results elsewhere go their way.
Canada’s victory was their biggest in an International Cricket Council tournament since a win over Bangladesh at the 2003 World Cup.
The USA’s shock victory over Pakistan in Texas has blown this group right open giving extra significance to this match, especially for Irish hopes of reaching the Super 8s.
The much-scrutinised pitch at the New York stadium had all the grass taken off it and was rolled as late as possible by groundsperson Damian Hough.
In front of a sparse, but perhaps higher-than-expected, crowd of 5,153 Paul Stirling understandably bowled first but it played sufficiently well for the Canadians to post a defendable total.
Barbados-born Kirton, a former West Indies U19 player, played nicely as Canada hit 13 fours and two sixes in their innings.
One over from the experienced Craig Young (2-32) was dispatched for 16 by Kirton including two sixes thwacked down the ground. Wicketkeeper Shreyas Movva again played a lower-order cameo with 37 from 36 balls.
Ireland’s batting looked undercooked in their emphatic defeat to India and they lost key wickets here partly thanks to some smart bowling, partly through poor shot selection.
Stirling top-edged a pull while Harry Tector was bowled by a beauty which straightened from left-arm spinner Saad Bin Zafar. Lorcan Tucker needlessly ran himself out.
Adair and Dockrell momentarily had the Irish fans believing, but it was a case of not enough six in the city after those 54 boundary-less balls proved costly.
It was a deserved win for Canada, an Associate member of the ICC, who had got themselves in a similarly good position against the USA in their opening game but this time held their nerve at the business end.
English (US)