It was almost inevitable. That the closest match of the World Cup to date, one that undulated throughout before Ireland eventually overcame the United Arab Emirates with two wickets and four balls to spare, should be slugged out between two associate nations merely underlined the joy that the developing sides bring to the 50-over game’s showpiece event.
When Ireland’s No10 batsman, George Dockrell, miscued a shot over cover and burgled two runs with the help of Alex Cusack, it completed a frantic chase of 279 under lights at the Gabba in Brisbane that had all who witnessed it engrossed. More important for Ireland, after their defeat of West Indies, they now sit two wins from two and third in Pool B, the more intriguing half of the competition thus far.
The argument put forward before the tournament by the International Cricket Council’s chief executive, Dave Richardson, was that the proposed 10-team format for 2019, a move fiercely criticised by supporters of a more inclusive global game, would be played solely by those capable of lifting the trophy, with competitive games throughout. But 16 fixtures down in the 14-team 2015 edition and this epic alone has made it to the final over.
The irony was not lost on Ireland’s man of the match, Gary Wilson, whose 69-ball 80, along with a belligerent half-century from Kevin O’Brien, broke the back of the run chase before their tail finished it off. “Just remind me, was it two teams outside the top eight that made it a good game?” he wryly asked those present at the post-match press conference, with a nod to the fact just two outsiders will join the top-eight ranked sides in future.
“We’re two wins from two now. Obviously today was a little bit closer than we would have liked but we’ve got four points, and that’s all we can ask for right now.”
This was not just another chapter in the page-turner of a story that is Irish cricket’s recent rise, however. The UAE, this World Cup’s only semi-professional team, played their part, as they did in their four-wicket opening defeat to Zimbabwe last week. Led by Mohammad Tauquir, a 43-year-old bank clerk by day, the qualifiers witnessed the first World Cup century in their history courtesy of Shaiman Anwar’s 83-ball 106, which, after being put into bat, converted a wobbling 78 for four from 20.5 overs into an imposing total of 278 for nine.
That Ireland’s chase required a similar recovery job was testament to the UAE bowlers. They could easily have felt the luck was with their opponents when the No3 Ed Joyce had his off stump rattled – or rather lit up given this tournament’s colourful bails – by the seamer Amjad Javed on 16, only for the bail to neatly drop back into the groove. But his eventual departure for 37 and the dual removal of William Porter and Niall O’Brien to the off-spin of Tauquir, the captain, left the favourites 97 for four at the midway stage of their innings, needing more than seven runs an over to win.
Wilson began the rebuild with the Dublin batsman Andrew Balbirnie, who made 30, in a watchful stand of 74 from 13.2 overs, before Kevin O’Brien, who finished the match minus 30% of his match fee for an earlier spat with the carefree Anwar when bowling, arrived to turn on the afterburners, striking eight fours and two sixes in a 24-ball half-century.
His dismissal with 36 runs from 32 balls still needed, the delivery after raising his bat, rekindled the UAE’s interest, with further twists coming when John Mooney and Wilson were winkled out to make it 12 required from 15 with two wickets left. Dockrell, the fresh-faced left-arm spinner, creamed his third ball through extra cover for four to settle the nerves.
That a skewed uppercut sealed the deal in the final over was neither here nor there. The fact that Ireland, who fear they will struggle to get out of the 10-team qualifying tournament in Bangladesh in three years’ time, now boast four of the top 10 run-chases in World Cup history is far more pertinent. This wasn’t just a competitive match, Mr Richardson, it was a thriller.
