T20 World Cup: 'There were tears in almost every eye,' Ireland player Simi Singh recalls historic win against England
T20 World Cup: 'There were tears in almost every eye,' Ireland player Simi Singh recalls historic win against England
Winning a match by Duckworth Lewis method doesn’t always earn many fans but for Ireland on Wednesday it meant the world as they shocked neighbours England in a rain-affected match by five runs as the infamous but effective method came into play at Melbourne’s MCG.
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Setting a 158 for the English to chase, Andrew Balbirnie set the tone for the Irish side with a brilliant 62 at the top of the batting order. Mark Wood was the most productive bowler for the European giants as he picked three for 34. In response, England put up a 105/5 in 14.3 overs before rain put a halt to the game for good while the big screen flashed the chasing team was still five runs short of the par score.
“It started raining heavily when (Gareth) Delany started the last over (15th of the England innings),” Ireland’s Simi Singh told Indian Express. “One eye was on the big screen, where they were showing the DLS score, and the other was on heaven. We were keenly following the DLS score. Everyone was hoping for the rain to stay on, and it did.”
Singh, who sat the bench for the game as Ireland wanted to play an extra pacer, said as soon as the game was decided by the DLS, it meant the world to them with almost the entire dressing room in tears.
“When we actually found out that we had won the match, everyone started celebrating in the changing room. Everyone started hugging each other, and there were tears in almost every eye. We’re all numb. Beating England is huge, and that too at the MCG, where Ireland was playing for the first time. It was the icing on the cake,” he said.
Rain arrived at the right time for the Irishmen as England’s Moeen Ali was making every effort possible to go beyond the par total with the information being shared on the big screen.
“None of us moved until the players started walking off the ground. If that over would have gone on, they (England) could have gone ahead of us. They were only behind by five runs, three balls were left, and Moeen Ali knew about it. But it was our day,” Singh said.
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