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Bangalore has become host to the most exciting encounters in this World Cup and we witnessed another classic on Wednesday between neighbours England and Ireland. Mighty England would have believed they had done enough with the bat in hand, posting a massive total of 327/8 in their 50 overs courtesy of half-centuries from Jonathan Trott (92) and Ian Bell (81). The game looked as good as over when the minnows slipped to 111 for 5 in their reply, but a fantastic century - 113 runs from just 63 balls - from Kevin O'Brien and excellent support from Alex Cusack (47) and John Mooney (33 not out) took the Irish home with 3 wickets and 5 balls to spare.

The day started with England winnings the toss and deciding to bat first on a track which looked as good as the one used in the India-England encounter over the weekend. There was just one change to the England line-up from the game against India with Stuart Broad recovering from his stomach bug and replacing Ajmal Shehzad.

England's openers Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen started off well, getting runs at quick pace. They put on a fifty run partnership for the third straight game at the World Cup and were looking good for plenty more. But young left arm spinner George Dockrell came into the attack and bowled Strauss for 34, the England skipper not looking quite as fluent as his knock against India. A few overs later, Pietersen (59) tried to reverse sweep Paul Stirling but top edged one to the keeper with 111 runs on board.

Trott and Bell took England out of any danger as they kept striking the ball around. They added 167 runs for the third wicket in just 26 overs at more than a run a ball and at 278/2 in the 43rd over, looked good for a score in the range of 340-350.

However, Ireland had a good end to the innings, limiting the much vaunted England line-up to just 327 as wickets fell in a heap. Moving Pietersen to the top of the order leaves a huge gap at the rear end for someone who can deliver the big hits at the end of the innings, and John Mooney took full advantage by picking up 4 wickets late in the day, while Trent Johnston chipped in with another 2. Ian Bell was brilliantly caught by Stirling off Mooney for 81. It seemed as if Trott would get a big hundred, but sadly fell 8 runs short for a run a ball 92. He did though become the fastest player to get to 1000 ODI runs, a record which he now jointly holds with Viv Richards and Kevin Pietersen. 

Ireland in reply lost their captain off the first ball of the innings, William Porterfield inside edged a full length delivery from James Anderson onto his stumps. Ed Joyce, the former English batsman, joined Paul Stirling in the middle with a great task at hand. Stirling looked fearless as he smashed Stuart Broad all over the place and gave the small spattering of Irish supporters in the crowd something to cheer about. The partnership looked to go out England’s hands before Strirling hit an uncontrolled pull off Tim Bresnan which landed in the safe hands of Pietersen. But Ireland were off to a good start as they put 62 runs on the board after ten overs.

Niall O’ Brien, Ireland’s wicket keeper batsman, scored 29 before he was bowled trying to hit Swann out of the park. He had been given a life earlier when he cleared the ground as the ball went straight through Anderson’s hands at the long-off boundary. Joyce’s slow effort ended with 32 to his name when he charged at Swann but the ball turned viciously and was stumped easily by Matt Prior. Gary Wilson was out leg before wicket off Swann and it seemed to be all over as Ireland slipped to 111 for 5.

But one of the best fight backs one might ever wtiness by an Associate nation was to follow as Kevin O’Brien brushed aside the cobwebs and tore into the England bowling. The red-headed batsman favoured midwicket sending the ball soaring out of the park on 6 occasions, and through in an additional 13 boundaries for good measure. He found a willing partner in Alex Cusack, who rotated the strike masterfully, knowing that it would be foolish to try to hit out from both ends and ensured that O’Brien wasn't left watching at the non-striker's end for too long. The 100 run partnership was brought up in just 61 balls and the Batting Powerplay which was taken in the 32^nd over produced 62 massive runs for Ireland as O’Brien was in full flow. Ireland were 229 for 5 by the end of the powerplay needing just 99 from 14 overs to complete a miraculous win.

England’s fielding woes meanwhile continued as Captain Andrew Strauss dropped a skier from O’Brien. Yardy too dropped one off his bowling which was hit hard from Cusack this time. Cusack joined the act as he hit Yardy for a six over mid-wicket in that same over. O’Brien brought up his hundred off just 50 balls with a flick through midwicket for 2, and his effort is the fastest in World Cup history, easily beating Mathew Hayden’s 66 ball effort in 2007. The 162 run partnership was finally broken with a mix up between the two batsmen and Cusack sacrificed his wicket for O’Brien’s to give Ireland a chance to win. Cusack had more than done his job though, contributing a vital 47 from 58 balls.

Mooney, the bowling hero for Ireland today, joined O’Brien as Ireland looked to pull off the unthinkable. O’Brien looked to take singles as he started to tire. Mooney, though kept hitting boundaries and the scorecard raced along. O’Brien was unfortunately run out while trying to steal a non-existent second as Ian Bell's throw from square-leg beat him to the stumps. At that point Ireland needed 11 from 11 balls but Trent Johnston came into bat and was greated by a juicy full toss from Stuart Broad, which was prompty introduced to the extra cover boundary. Three were needed from the last over for a win, and Mooney sealed it for Ireland with a clip through midwicket off James Anderson's first delivery to give Ireland their first ever victory against their neighbours.

England will definitely rue the missed chances in the field and the story could have been entirely different if they had held on to the openings they got. They are still second in Group B, but with 3 points from 3 games, their future in the World Cup is in jeopardy and they will need to bounce back against South Africa on Sunday at the M Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai if they hope to still seal a quarter-final berth.

Ireland on the other hand would be delighted with the victory and the celebrations back in their hotel room and in pubs all over Ireland are likely to go long into the night. They could have amazingly been top of the table had they not thrown away their tournament opener against Bangladesh last week, and will believe they can cause another upset when they face India on Sunday right here in Bengaluru.

Teams:

England: AJ Strauss (c), KP Pietersen, IJL Trott, IR Bell, PD Collingwood, MJ Prior (wk), MH Yardy, TT Bresnan, GP Swann, SCJ Broad, JM Anderson

Ireland: WTS Porterfield (c), PR Stirling, EC Joyce, NJ O'Brien (wk), AR Cusack, KJ O'Brien, AC Botha, JF Mooney, DT Johnston, GH Dockrell, WB Rankin

Mini Scorecard

England 327/8 in 50 overs (6.54 runs per over)
J Trott 92(92) J Mooney 4-63
I Bell 81(86) T Johnston 2-58

Ireland 329/7 in 49.1 overs (6.69 runs per over)
K O’Brien 113(63) G Swann 3-47
A Cusack 47(58) J Anderson 1-49

Ireland won by 3 wickets with 5 balls remaining

File Photograph Copyright: ICC World T20