In the T20 World Cup, New Zealand qualify for semi-final. NZ defeats Ireland by 35 runs thanks to the brilliant batting of captain Kane Williamson.
In the match, Ireland wins the toss and decides to bowl first. Openers Finn Allen and Dion Conway give the team a 52-run start in the powerplay. But Allen’s 18-ball 32 come to an end on the same score.
Captain Kane Williamson takes the score to 96 with help from Conway. Conway looked to struggle throughout the innings and eventually returned to the pavilion after scoring 28 off 33 balls.
Williamson scores a fine half-century and Glenn Phillips’ 17. Daryl Mitchell’s 31 takes his team to a decent total.
New Zealand scores 185 for 6 in 20 overs. Ireland’s Josh Little taking three wickets and Gareth Delaney taking two wickets.
Chasing the target, Ireland’s openers Paul Stirling and captain Andy Balberney give the team a 68-run start in 8 overs to make the match interesting.
However, at this stage both the players gets out after scoring 37 and 37 runs respectively with a difference of one over.
After two consecutive losses, Ireland’s batting line could not cope and kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Ireland scored 150 runs in the allotted overs, Lorcan Tucker scored 13, Gareth Delaney scored 10 and George Dockrell scored 23 runs.
New Zealand won by 35 runs and qualified for the semi-finals of the event.
For New Zealand, Lockie Ferguson took three wickets while Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee and Ash Sodhi took two wickets each. Captain Kane Williamson was adjudged Man of the Match for his excellent batting.