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The luck of the Irish proved to be rather poor on Tuesday evening as they failed to emulate their 2009 giant killing form, denied by the rain in the final Group D match in the ICC World T20. A fantastic showing in the field on a poor pitch saw Ireland restrict their much fancied neighbours England to just 120 in their allotted 20 overs. But the heavens opened twice during the attempted chase allowing Ireland only 3.3 overs in their innings, and hence no result was possible in the knock-out contest to decide who'd join the West Indies in the Super 8s from Group D. A higher net run rate as a result of their considerably better showing in the match against the West Indies allowed England to qualify and left the Irish to rue their rotten luck.

Ireland won the toss, and opted to field first, a familiar pattern in rain affected scenarios, where Duckworth-Lewis tends to heavily favour the side batting second. England named an unchanged eleven from the side that put on 191 runs on the board against the West Indies the night before, while Ireland too were unchanged, despite their 68 run showing against the West Indies on the opening day of the tournament.

England got off to a good start, with Boyd Rankin bowling a rank long hop first ball, duly delivered to the boundary by Michael Lumb. The next couple of overs produced a boundary each, and 36-year old Trent Johnston was unlucky not to get a wicket in his second over, Craig Kieswetter being dropped by Andre Botha in the slips. Ireland did get their first breakthrough the very next ball though as Lumb (14) fell to Kevin O'Brien's first delivery caught at short fine leg.

England slumped to 32/3 in the final over of the powerplay, Kieswetter getting run out for 13 and Paul Collingwood getting caught this time by Botha off Johnston for naught.

Eoin Morgan, playing against his former team, joined South African born Kevin Pietersen in the middle, and the latter fell in the 10th over for 9 caught at deep square leg off O'Brien. Morgan found a willing partner once again in Luke Wright, and the pair set about resurrecting the innings just like they had done against the West Indies. However, this wicket was considerably slower and run making was difficult. Ireland too largely put the ball in good areas and were solid in the field ensuring that there were no free runs for the taking.

Wright (20) added 41 useful runs with Morgan before falling to Boyd Rankin in the 17th over, failing to clear the Irish skipper William Porterfield at mid-off. Morgan stood firm, holding the England innings together, batting his new team to a position of safety, contributing 45 before he fell in the final over trying to clear the field. England ended with just 120, and one was left wondering if Morgan still wore the colours of his birth, Ireland might have made the Super 8s. Rankin and O'Brien finished with a couple of wickets a piece, while Johnston was arguably the pick of the bowlers giving away just 14 runs in his 4 overs and picking up a solitary wicket.

The Irish innings was able to piece together 8 deliveries before the heavens opened rather unexpectedly (there wasn't a cloud in sight till a mammoth black one descended on the stadium). The unsuspecting opening pair of Porterfield and Paul Stirling had failed to do anything special with the bat in that over and a bit, and headed into the rain delay with just 4 runs on the board.

Only about half an hour was lost, and as a result no overs were reduced from the game, leaving the game intact when the players returned to the field. However, with the rain clouds hovering overhead, both captains knew that Duckworth-Lewis could be called into play, and England tried to delay proceedings to ensure that it took them as long as possible to get through to the 5 overs required to constitute a game. Ireland did not help their cause by failing to add any runs in the 4 balls left of the second over, and finally lost Paul Stirling for naught from 6 balls faced.

Bresnan came in for over no.3 and conceded just 2 runs in the over to drift Ireland into deeper trouble should 5 overs be completed. Niall O'Brien did his bit to restore parity by smacking the first two balls of the 4th over for boundaries. While Sidebottom and Collingwood took ages to set the field, the rain started to pelt down again, and that's how it stayed for the rest of the day, denying Ireland the opportunity at a famous chase.

England and Ireland got a share of the points, with the former going through on account of a net run rate of -0.45 against Ireland's -3.5. England join New Zealand in Group E of the Super 8s, and will in all likelihood have Pakistan and South Africa for company. Should the result of the Australia - Bangladesh match (read the preview) go their way, Pakistan could be in action as early as Thursday against England.

Mini Scorecard:

England 120/8 (20 overs, 6.00rpo)
Morgan 45 (37)          Rankin 2-25
Wright 20 (24)            K O'Brien 2-22

Ireland 14/1 (3.3 overs, 4.00rpo)
N O'Brien 9* (5)        Sidebottom 1-9
Porterfield 4* (10)

Match Abandoned due to rain

File Photo Copyright: RSA/ Cricket Ireland

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