Group B just got a whole lot tougher to compete in. Teams which had put Ireland down as a push-over have another think coming, and when India takes them on in Bengaluru on Sunday, they will have to bring close to their best. While David had defeated Goliath with a modest slingshot, England were felled on Wednesday courtesy the brute force of Kevin O’Brien’s sledgehammer and John Mooney’s all-round sagacity. Ireland have been placed on an unprecedented high, appearing to have set foot on the first rung of a far-reaching ladder. While MS Dhoni is not one to take off-field controversy (he was admonished by ICC official Dave Richardson for critiquing the UDRS) into games, he has issues of mediocre bowling and fielding to resolve. Whatever recuperative plans he may have set for the Ireland fixture will have called for drastic revision after what Ireland showed against England.Bengaluru citizens will be kicking themselves for not having inundated the Chinnaswamy stadium on Wednesday, when the cricketing history books recorded a special entry: “England’s score of 327 chased down by minnow Ireland; Kevin O’Brien scores fastest World-Cup century, in 50 balls.” Even as the IPL will start to cast a line for this Freddie Flintoff-ish all-rounder, there were crucial contributions, from John Mooney (with both bat and ball) and Alex Cusack towards the end, which should not be completely eclipsed by O’Brien’s splendour.
If the Chinnaswamy ground were to be asked, given stats from this tournament so far, whom it would favour in this match, it would teeter towards Ireland; Ireland, with their defeat of a rising England, who had equalized with India, can be crowned as a force to reckon with and, perhaps, even fear. If this were a single-venue tri-series, Ireland would be topping the table right now!
India:
India has the one of the toughest top-fours anyone could wish for. Their torso too, in Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan, is quite capable of the big blows. But there is a niggling doubt regarding their ability to stretch a good start into the indomitable score. When, after his 47th century, Sachin Tendulkar came away in the 39th over, the middle and lower orders folded in trying to keep the ante going. While India do have the players to take the game away with priceless hitting, their fluency has tended to be somewhat undermined by what looks to be pressure to do justice to the strong platform. Pathan hits the most smoothly when all his runs are to accrue only to himself, and not to pay off the debt of the legacy left by the top four. It is probably India’s curse that their top four is so good, in a morbid sense.
For all their touting as favourites, India will be shuddering to think of how to deal with a breakaway O’Brien and Co., should there be a repeat. They have already shown themselves vulnerable to pitched attack, even 338 not tall enough a target for the bowlers to defend against England. Apart from Zaheer Khan’s specialized savvy, the bowling has been flaw-ridden. Piyush Chawla may have been the played last game for the threat he would have posed to certain English batsmen. However, he was not nearly as effective as expected bowling under the dewy floodlights. With India likely to stick with spin strength, Ravichandran Ashwin might be a better foil for Harbhajan Singh; with his mystery keeping batsmen on their toes, Harbhajan can slip in more wicket-taking deliveries himself. Ashwin will also be harder for the likes of O’Brien to sweep as he bowls a direly straight line.
India have been cursed to be uneasy no matter what total they notch up, given that their fielding and bowling is not beyond reproach and that the Irish amassed 227 runs in the last 154 balls of their innings. They will need to hold all their catches and intercept every run if they do not want to leave it to chance against the freaky Irish. While it is a long shot to say that India’s 300-plus total will be susceptible to being overhauled a second time in a row – by Ireland – they were exposed in the last match, and will court danger against better teams in the latter stages of the tourney.
Ireland:
The Irish batting against the English bowling was remarkable for its stoicism. When Captain and crucial batsman William Porterfield dragged his stumps down the very first ball of the mammoth chase, the Irish had all the reason to feel like this was not to be their day. And but for the other batters having held the fort up with reasonable scores of their own, O’Brien may not have had the fervour and hope to go for it full pelt. There was smart role-play, after Alex Cusack sacrificed his wicket after a valuable 47, when John Mooney turned aggressor to keep O’Brien safe, getting the timely boundary to stay afloat.
Ireland have shown some good death bowling. Against Bangladesh, they gave away a miserly 38 runs in the last ten overs, and on Wednesday, it was 33 runs in the last five. Mooney jarred the English at the death, picking up 4 players who were either set or capable of dangerous hitting. In George Dockrell, Ireland have an accurate, indefatigable left-armer who can bowl at the death too. His true test will come if he is handed the ball with a Pathan or Yuvraj on strike.
