Ireland vs UAE: Thriller at the Gabba

After the win, at the press conference too, there were more laughs. Irish captain William Porterfield got the expected O’Brien question. The provocation being the Irish all-rounder’s stunning reflex catch, two crucial wickets and that match-winning ‘25-balls 50’ when UAE seemed set to upset World Cup’s usual ‘upsetters’. “What’s with the World Cup and Kevin O’Brien?” you ask. Not a single facial muscle moves as he says, “You’d see it a bit more often if we had more games. We see it every day in training.” That dry Irish humour once again.
It was a day of clichés at the Gabba. At the very empty stadium, those hackneyed phrases — “luck of the Irish” and “the Irish eyes are smiling” — kept floating around. With the rub of the green repeatedly going against the UAE — Amjad Javed hitting the stumps after beating Ed Joyce but bails not falling — Ireland could keep their nerves in the tight game.

In a World Cup where fans haven’t sat on the edge or even those with cardiac history have been comfortable on the couch facing the television, this was the first game that was decided in the last over. The two non-Test playing nations put up a contest that was a throwback to the golden age of ODIs, the 90s, an era when teams batting first and scoring 270 weren’t told that they fell 30 runs short of par and a time when ‘three to win of the last six’ still kept the fielding side interested. It was time, like today, when openers cruised at three point something in the first 10 overs, got the team to 100 in 25 and if the eventual total got anywhere near 250, they knew they were in with a great shot.

That old ‘runs on the board’ adage, something Ireland seemed to believe for a while — nearly letting the match slip away in the chase. Till O’Brien’s T20 innings happened.

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UAE’s two-wicket loss in Brisbane could have been Sharjah of three decades ago. Fielders repeatedly missed stumps and dropped catches. Bowlers got cramps and bowled full-tosses. Batsmen either played in the first gear or fifth, nothing in between. Over all it had the feel of a great movie made on a shoestring budget, a far cry from the very predictable 100 crore blockbuster that the rest of this World Cup has been.

Ten10 in 50-50
The ups and downs were spread throughout the day but it was the last 10 overs that decided the contest. There was a Ten10 hidden in this 50-50 game.

UAE were 178/6 after 40 overs with Shaiman Anwar 48 (50b 3×4 1×6) and Amjad Javed 26 (20b 3×4) at the crease. Anwar would score 55 more in the next 33 balls to finish on 106. UAE compiled 278/9. In reply, Ireland, chasing 279, were 184/5 in 40 overs. An asking rate of over 9 was staring at O’Brien, who was on 5. UAE had hopes of recording their first World Cup win, a result Pakistan would love since they were competing for a quarter-final place with Ireland.

It was an intriguing sub-plot to the drama. The men PCB had given a raw deal to were now responsible for deciding their fate. Hero of the day Anwar’s cricket wasn’t considered international quality back home in Sialkot. Four of his compatriots, including the all-rounder Amjad Javed (42 runs and 3/60), were in the same boat, which eventually sailed to UAE with hope. Aaqib Javed made Dubai his base to be UAE’s head coach when Pakistan gave no signs of showing the same confidence in him. Former chief of Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy, Mudassar Nazar, was now on Aaqib’s side as batting consultant.

But O’Brien hurt UAE and Pakistan both. When he took the crease, Ireland needed 108 runs in 68 balls and when he left, the equation was 36 runs off 32 balls. Even after that it wasn’t a cakewalk. There were long huddles, flying tempers, panicking fielders, scowling bowlers — proper old-school drama in short. UAE on the field were like boys in the middle of a Sunday tennis-ball cricket game. The extra adrenaline was working and when they snared Man of the Match Gary Wilson at 80, UAE still seemed in the hunt. Eventually, it was the ability to hold nerves that decided the contest.
“Holding nerves…Haven’t they banned it yet?”

The chase, as it happened…