Two different days, two different tales. While India crushed Pakistan in what was expected to be close contest yesterday, the story of the World Cup Tournament so far is not about the biggest rivalry in cricket. Today, a new page was turned in the book of cricket when unfancied Ireland chased a huge 300+ target with exceptional ease and over 4 overs to spare against 2 times world champions and one of the tournament favourites, West Indies.
Pool B - to which all these 4 teams belong - was supposed to have thrown up natural semi-finalists, India, South Africa, Pakistan and West Indies. Zimbabwe, UAE and Ireland were supposed to go down without even a fight. Ireland proved today that it is not so easy to write them off so soon. Even in the last world cup - with the O'Brien brothers leading their charge - they had announced their arrival on the world stage with aplomb. Today, they took their credibility many notches higher.
West Indies would've surely assumed that they had the match in their pocket after scoring 304. However, a great top order batting performance by Ireland made world class bowlers like Roach, Taylor, and company look totally pedestrian, and Ireland romped home with 4 wickets and 4 overs to spare. This was not just a win, it was a humiliating victory beyond comprehension.
Reminds me of 1983 when Kapil's Devils showed to the world that cricket can produce Davids who will not only take on Goliaths but also conquer them.
A look at the scorecard is telling. Chris Gayle - arguably the biggest hitter in world cricket - took took 65 balls to score a measly 36. Normally, he would had taken 36 balls to score 65! When he fell, West Indies were just 78 in 21.2 overs. Another 2 wickets meant that Windies had lost half their side for just 87. It was Simmons and Sammy who stood their ground and finally made a match of it.
Ireland chased it down without any hiccups, in the process making it one of the five successful chases of 300 in all World Cups. And... for those who didn't know, 3 of these 5 chases are by Ireland - 2 against test playing nations. Guess, it is the season of small guys winning against mighty giants!
© Shailesh Nigam
