The T20 History of Ireland
Ireland have been making regular appearances at the Twenty20 World Cup and they first made their bow in the 2009 tournament. Having been pitched in the same group as India and Bangladesh, they were able to get the better of the latter by securing a six-wicket victory and then go through to the next stage.
The Irish then found life tougher going when being grouped with Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand, although it was a reasonable first showing and there was another outing at the 2010 T20 World Cup. The West Indies and England were always going to be difficult opponents and there was a 70-run defeat before no result against the English.
At the 2012 World Cup, Australia and West Indies were too strong for the men from the Emerald Isle, while the format changed two years later and it meant an improvement in fortunes for Ireland.
Although Ireland’s T20 team weren’t able to emerge from the group stage in the first round of proceedings, they were able to be a lot more competitive. There was a win over Zimbabwe and the Irish then edged closer to the next phase with a 21 run over UAE through the Duckworth-Lewis method.
However, there was a slip-up against Netherlands in the final match and it was the latter who were able to go through. The 2016 outing saw Ireland end up winless in a group featuring Bangladesh, Netherlands and Oman.
Who Holds the T20 Records for Ireland?
Ireland have played plenty of Twenty20 international matches throughout their career. The highest team score was achieved against Afghanistan on 30 November 2013. At the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the team managed to clock up 225/7.
Meanwhile, the best innings in terms of bowling were 4/11 and that was notched by Alex Cusack who managed this impressive feat against the West Indies. This has yet to be bettered since the display at Sabrina Park in Jamaica on 21 February 2014.
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