MELBOURNE: Ireland pulled off a major upset of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 on Wednesday as the side beat former champions England by five runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-hit Super 12 clash.
Set to chase 158, England lost five wickets for 105 runs before the umpires called off the match due to uninterrupted rain, rendering Ireland to clinch an astonishing win as the batting side was five runs behind the target according to the D/L method.
England went through a dismal start to their run chase as skipper Jos Buttler was dismissed by Josh Little on the second ball of the innings. The left-arm pacer then gave another scare in his next over as he sent Alex Hales back to the pavilion after he scored 7 off 5.
Dawid Malan and Harry Brook resisted with a valiant partnership of 57 runs for the fourth wicket after all-rounder Ben Stokes was castled by Fionn Hand to reduce England to 29/3.
Malan top-scored for his side as he played a cautious knock of 37-ball 35 while Brook managed 18 off 21.
No 6 batter Moeen Ali, however, looked firm on the crease as he blasted a quick 24 off 12 laced with three fours and a six before the rain forced the players to walk back to their dug-outs.
Earlier, the Irish skipper played a glittering knock of 62 off 47 laced with two sixes and five fours while he built a steadfast partnership of 82 runs for the second wicket with Lorcan Tucker who contributed 34 off 27 before getting run out.
Ireland were sailing comfortably on 132/3 in 15.2 overs before Livingstone had two-in-two as he dismissed Balbirnie and the incoming batter George Dockrell for a golden duck to set the alarm bells ringing for Ireland.
The batting side failed to reinvigorate after the fateful blows as they started to lose wickets at regular intervals with the bottom four dismissed in single digits.
Sam Curran bowled an incredible penultimate over as he yorked out Barry McCarthy (3 off 3) before the left-arm pacer castled Fionn Hand (1 off 2) on the final ball.
England’s express fast bowler Mark Wood also had a fantastic outing with the bowl as he bagged three wickets while offering 34 runs in his four overs quota while Livingstone returned the sensational figures of 3/17 in just three overs.
