Canada’s brilliant bowling performance enabled them to defend a modest total of 138 runs against Ireland in their ICC T20 World Cup encounter at the Nassau International Cricket Stadium. Opting to chase, Ireland’s openers Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie cautiously started their innings, but Canada’s bowlers made early breakthroughs.
Stirling was dismissed for just nine runs, followed by Balbirnie’s departure at 17 runs. The Irish team struggled to build partnerships as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Despite some resistance from Lorcan Tucker and Mark Adair, Ireland found themselves struggling at 59/6 in 12.3 overs.
Adair’s spirited knock of 34 runs and Docrell’s unbeaten 30 helped Ireland reach a total of 125/7 in their allotted 20 overs. For Canada, Jeremy Gordon and Dillon Heyliger shone with two wickets each, supported by Junaid Siddiqui and Saad Bin Zafar.
In the first innings, after opting to bat, Canada’s Aaron Johnson and Navneet Dhaliwal opened the innings but were dismissed early. Despite a few contributions, including Nicholas Kiton’s 49 and Shreyas Movva’s 37, Canada managed to post a total of 137/7 in 20 overs. Ireland’s Barry McCarthy and Craig Young were the standout bowlers, claiming two wickets each.
Canada’s disciplined bowling effort and timely partnerships with the bat secured them a 12-run victory over Ireland in a closely contested match.