ON THIS DAY IN 2011: At the toss of the Group B contest between England and Ireland in the 2011 ODI World Cup, only a handful of people would have given a chance to the Irish team. But Ireland, on March 2, 2011, did not just play against England but also its reputation in the international cricket call. In a game where more than 650 runs were scored, Ireland led by Kevin O’Brien’s brilliant century did the biggest upset of that World Cup.
Winning the toss at Banglore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium, England skipper Andrew Strauss did not even blink before opting to bat first. Opening the innings, Strauss along with Kevin Peitersen got his team off to a quick start. The duo completed a 91-run opening stand before Strauss was cleaned up by spinner George Dockrell’s spin in the 14th over.
This was followed by Pietersen’s dismissal in the 17th over after scoring 59. Just when Ireland was sniffing a chance of a comeback, Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott held the English team together. Completing their half centuries, the batters added 157 for the third wicket. Both the batters were sent back to the pavilion by John Mooney. While Bell scored 81 before getting caught out, Trott was cleaned by Mooney in nervous 90s at the score of 92. England finished the innings with 327 runs on board.
While the Chinnaswamy wicket was still looking good for batting, the pressure of a 300-plus score was enough to dislodge any team’s confidence. And the wicket of skipper William Porterfield on the very first ball of the innings made things more difficult for Ireland.
Though the subsequent batters got good starts, they failed to build long innings over it. At the score of 111, half of the Irish team was back in the pavilion in the 25th over.
But just then, Kevin O’Brien and Alex Cusack took charge of the seemingly impossible run chase. Stitching partnership together not only stopped the fall of wickets but ensured the free flow of runs and Brien led this task. Before Cusack was dismissed in the 42nd over at the score of 47, the duo had added 162 runs for the sixth wicket. Ireland were now staring at a win and Brien was in no mood to let it slip away.
With support from Mooney on the other end, Brien, meanwhile, also completed his century. He led the Irish teams to the verge of a historic win but before the team could cross the line, Brien got run out in the 49th over.
But Mooney was still on the crease. With boundary on the first ball of the final over, Ireland did one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history and chased down the mammoth target of 328 runs set by England.
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