Abu Dhabi: Ireland pacer Curtis Campher scripted history on Monday by taking four wickets in four balls against the Netherlands, propelling his side to a seven-wicket victory in a first round Group A match of the T20 World Cup here.
Campher’s 4/26 spell bundled out the Netherlands for mere 106 runs before Irish batters Gareth Delany (44 runs) and Paul Stirling (30 not out) chased down the target for Ireland with 29 balls to spare.
The day, however, firmly belonged to Campher as the 22-year-old Irish became the third bowler to take four wickets in consecutive deliveries in T20Is. His charismatic wicket-taking spell came in the 10th over the match as he dismissed Colin Ackermann (11), Ryan ten Doeschate (0), Scott Edwards (0), and Roelof van der Merwe (0) one after another.
Netherlands batting line-up was in disarray at 51/6 before opener Max O'Dowd (51 off 51) clung on to the other end to take his side past the 100-run mark.
Pacer Mark Adair (3/9) then bundled out the Dutch, who lost three wickets off the last three balls of the innings, in the final over for 106.
Chasing the paltry total, the Irish had some early struggles with opener Kevin O’Brien (9 off 10) and Andrew Balbirnie (8 off 6) falling cheaply. However, Delany and Stirling added 59 runs for the third wicket to ensure a comfortable chase. (UNI)
