T20 World Cup: England chasing 157 to beat Ireland

MELBOURNE [AUSTRALIA]: Fiery spells by Liam Livingstone and Mark Wood helped England bundle out Ireland for 157 in Super 12s of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Balbirnie top scored for Ireland with 62 off 47 while Lorcan Tucker played a knock of 34 runs. For England, Livingstone, Wood bagged three while Sam Curran claimed two wickets.

Put to bat first, Ireland got off to a bad start as they lost the crucial wicket of opener Paul Stirling.

Mark Wood gave his team a big breakthrough as he dismissed danger man Stirling, who hit the ball straight into the hands of Sam Curran. Lorcan Tucker then came out to bat. In the 4th over, he slammed Chris Woakes for 11 runs hammering two fours in the over.

Tucker continued his blistering form and took Sam Curran for 14 runs in the 6th over of the innings. Tucker along with Ireland's skipper guided the team to 92/1 at the halfway stage of the game. Balbirnie also shifted gears and slammed Chris Woakes for 18, slamming two fours and one six.

Tucker's stint at the crease was cut short when he was run out at the non-striker's end, with Adil Rashid deflecting the ball to the stumps off a drive from Andrew Balbirnie. Tucker went back to the pavilion, after scoring 34 runs in 27 balls, in the 12th over of the innings.

Harry Tector then came out to bat, but could not do much as he was dismissed by Mark Wood without scoring runs. Curtis Campher then joined hands with Balbirnie to keep the moumentum going. Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie brought up his half-century in 40 balls.

In the 16th over of the innings, Liam Livingstone struck twice to dismiss well-set batter Balbirnie for 62 runs and new batter George Dockrell for a duck.

Gareth Delany then came out to bat. Mark Wood gave another blow to Ireland as he dismissed Campher for 17 off 11 in the 17th over of the game. In the 18th over of the game, Livingstone struck again to remove Mark Adair for 4.

At this point, Ireland kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Sam Curran then gave Ireland a double blow as he dismissed Barry McCarthy for three runs and Fionn Hand for one.

Ben Stokes then bundled out Ireland for 157 as he dismissed Joshua Little for a duck.

Brief score: Ireland 157 (Andrew Balbirnie 62, Lorcan Tucker 34; Liam Livingstone 3-17) vs England.