Andy Balbirnie's Ireland make perfect start to Group A with Curtis Campher claiming historic four wickets in four successive balls; watch T20 World Cup live in full on Sky Sports between now and November 14
Monday 18 October 2021 18:26, UK
A Curtis Campher-inspired Ireland opened their ICC's Men's T20 World Cup campaign in impressive style with victory over the Netherlands by seven wickets.
Campher claimed four wickets in four balls as Ireland dominated from the off with the Netherlands' Ben Cooper run-out for a duck.
Bas De Leede was next to go in the fifth, bowled by Josh Little, before Campher put the game out of sight in the tenth as the Netherlands looked as though they were slowly gathering some sort of momentum.
The Netherlands quickly fell from 51-2 to 51-6 as Ryan Ten Doeschate and Roelof Van De Merwe were the first to go from Campher's dominant deliveries.
The hat-trick ball, the wicket of Scott Edwards, had to be reviewed after being given not out by the on-field umpire, but it handed Campher his hat-trick of lbws.
Van Der Merwe followed soon after, dragging the ball on to his stumps, to complete four in four for Johannesburg-born Campher.
The Netherlands finished 106 all out with Ireland making steady, if unspectacular, work of the target to claim an opening Group A win.
Kevin O'Brien and captain Andy Balbirnie were early casualties before Paul Stirling and Gareth Delany formed a strong partnership of 69 to see Ireland on the cusp of victory.
And it was only fitting that Campher came in at the crease at five to help see Ireland home, making seven runs in the process.
Curtis Campher - the 22-year-old's four wickets in four balls were not only match-winning but historic, just the third player to achieve the feat in T20 internationals (alongside Rashid Khan and Lasith Malinga)
Max O'Dowd - the only resistance of note to Ireland and Campher, watching the carnage unfold in front of him before claiming a half-century with a stoic 51 for the Netherlands
Mark Adair - eclipsed by Campher's efforts but nevertheless a crucial bowling effort, claiming three wickets off nine balls.
Paul Stirling - set the tone at the start of the match by running out Ben Cooper for a duck and although he scored slowly, stayed the course to claim 30 not out
Gareth Delany - worked a solid partnership with Stirling and while his partner was more conservative, did the bulk of the boundary-scoring with an impressive 44
It's the return of Group B on Tuesday with Scotland looking to build on their win over Bangladesh as they face debutants Papua New Guinea at 11am BST.
Meanwhile, the other match sees Bangladesh come up against Oman in the afternoon at 3pm BST.
A win for both Scotland and Oman should see both sides qualify for the Super 12 with a game to spare.
Watch the T20 World Cup live on Sky between now and November 14. Scotland face Papua New Guinea from 10.30am on Tuesday on Sky Sports Cricket, with Bangladesh vs Oman following from 2.30pm on the same channel.
