T20 World Cup 2022: Ireland's report card

Andrew Balbirnie (Source: AP Newsroom)

With their defeat against New Zealand, Ireland has bowed out of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. They lost their last encounter against the Black Caps by a margin of 35 runs. Though Ireland will no longer be seen in the tournament they have pulled put some brilliant performances throughout their time in it. 

The Journey

Ireland had to cross the hurdle of the qualification stage to make it into the Super 12 of the tournament. If both the stages of the tournament is considered, Ireland have played 8 matches in the tournament. They won 3 of their matches, lost 4 and 1 match was abandoned due to rain. 

In the qualification stage Ireland defeated West Indies and played a major role in the elimination of the two time world champions form the tournament. After they qualified for the Super 12, they carried on their performance and pulled up a great upset when they defeated England. 

But they fell short against the likes of Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand and had to walk out of the tournament. Even though they are not going to the next stage, it was a spirited and enjoyable performance from the Irish players. 

Report Card

Paul Stirling- 6/10

Innings: 7 Runs: 170 Avg: 28.33 SR: 133.86

He played a brilliant knock of 66 runs from 48 balls against West Indies. Barring this he got a couple of starts in the tournament but could not convert them into anything big. 

Andrew Balbirnie- 6/10

Innings: 7 Runs: 153 Avg: 21.85 SR: 124.39

Balbirnie played a match winning knock against England. He scored 62 runs off 47 balls and played a major role one of the biggest upsets of the tournament. That impactful performance earns him the same ratings as Stirling inspite of having worse overall numbers. 

Lorcan Tucker (Source: AP Newsroom)

Lorcan Tucker- 7/10

Innings: 7 Runs: 204 Avg: 40.80 SR: 125.15

Lorcan Tucker has been the most consistent batter of the Ireland batting line up. He made some valuable contributions in most of the matches.

Harry Tector- 1/10

Innings: 6 Runs: 40 Avg: 11.33 SR: 90.66

Before coming into the T20 World Cup, there were expectations that Harry Tector might play a major role in Ireland's run in the tournament. But he failed to make any significant contribution in the tournament. 

Curtis Campher- 5.5/10

Innings: 6 Runs: 126 Avg: 25.20 SR: 163.64

Overs: 8 Runs Conceded: 74 Economy: 9.25 Wickets: 2 Avg: 37.00

72 of his 126 runs in the tournament came against Scotland in one match. In the other 5 innings he was just able to score 54 runs, thus his impact in the tournament was not that great barring a single match.  But the impact of the knock that he played against Scotland is lot more than numbers because it kept Ireland alive in the tournament. 

George Dockrell- 4.5/10

Innings: 6 Runs: 100 Avg: 20.00 SR: 120.48

Overs: 8 Runs Conceded: 56 Economy: 7.00 Wickets: 1 Avg: 48.00

It was a an average tournament for Dockrell. His performance with the neither the ball nor the bat was impactful enough. 

Gareth Delany- 5/10

Innings: 5 Runs: 69 Avg: 17.25 SR: 127.77

Overs: 23.3 Runs Conceded: 185 Economy: 7.87 Wickets: 6 Avg: 30.83

Delany's World Cup 2022 has been average with both of his trades. With the ball he was a bit more expensive than his team would have liked him to be and with the bat he did an average job in the chances he got. 

Mark Adair- 3.5/10

Innings: 5 Runs: 28 Avg: 5.60 SR: 90.32

Overs: 24 Runs Conceded: 212 Economy: 8.83 Wickets: 4 Avg: 53.00

Mark Adair had a below average tournament to say the least. He was not upto the mark with the ball, his main trade. 

Barry McCarthy- 5/10

Innings: 5 Runs: 36 Avg: 18.00 SR: 109.09

Overs: 25 Runs Conceded: 227 Economy: 9.08 Wickets: 5 Avg: 45.40

Barry McCarthy has given runs and not picked up enough wickets, as one of the main bowlers of  Ireland, in the tournament. This is one of the reasons that Ireland failed in some crunch situations. Although, in the match against Australia he picked up 3 wickets which was quite impactful. 

Fionn Hand- 1/10

Innings: 3 Runs: 12 Avg: 4.00 SR: 109.09

Overs: 5 Runs Conceded: 54 Economy: 10.80 Wickets: 1 Avg: 54.00

Like most of the bowlers in the Irish set up, Fionn Hand also had a disappointing tournament. 

Joshua Little (Source: AP Newsroom)

Joshua Little- 7.5/10

Innings: 4 Runs: 16 Avg: 8.00 SR: 76.19

Overs: 27 Runs Conceded: 189 Economy: 7.00 Wickets: 11 Avg: 17.18

Joshua Little did his job to near perfection in the tournament. He was the main bowler of the team and acted like one. The highlights of Little's World Cup was the hat-trick that he took against New Zealand in the Ireland's last match of the tournament. 

Simi Singh- 4/10

Innings: 2 Runs: 7 Avg: 7.00 SR: 77.77

Overs: 9 Runs Conceded: 78 Economy: 8.66 Wickets: 3 Avg: 18.00

Simi Singh did a par job in the little chances that he got in the tournament. His economy rate was a bit on the high side, barring which his bowling figures are pretty decent. 

Summary

Ireland's T20 World Cup Report Card (Source: Onecricket)

Team of the Tournament contenders-

1.  Joshua Little
2. Lorcan Tucker

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