Second T20 At Civil Service Cricket Club, Belfast: New Zealand 179-4 from 20 overs (Dane Cleaver 78no off 55 balls, Finn Allen 35 off 20 balls; Josh Little 2-31 from four overs) beat Ireland 91 from 13.5 overs (Mark Adair 27 off 22 balls; Michael Bracewell 3-5 from 0.5 overs, Ish Sodhi 3-21 from three overs) by 88 runs.
Dane Cleaver is making international cricket look easy.
Playing in just his second T20 international, the Black Caps’ wicketkeeper-batter helped New Zealand clinch the series against Ireland in Belfast on Thursday (NZ time).
His unbeaten 78 from 55 balls paved the way for New Zealand’s 88-run win, giving them a 2-0 lead ahead of Saturday’s (NZ time) third and final match.
Michael Bracewell’s dream start to international cricket continued, taking the final three wickets to finish with a hat-trick in his first time bowling in a T20I.
READ MORE:
* No fairytale finish for Ben Stokes as England hammered by South Africa
* Lockie Ferguson shines with ball in Black Caps’ opening T20 win over Ireland
* Black Caps opener Martin Guptill dedicates 18th ODI ton to his late father
He removed Mark Adair and Barry McCarthy in back-to-back balls with his offspin and picked up his hat-trick when Craig Young offered a simple chance to Ish Sodhi at backward point to end the match.
Bracewell became the third Black Cap to take a T20I hat-trick joining Jacob Oram (2009 v Sri Lanka) and Tim Southee (2010 v Pakistan).
Cleaver’s knock was the backbone of New Zealand’s 179-4, batting first. They then delivered a sharp bowling effort, rolling Ireland for 91.
Michael Bracewell took the final three Irish wickets to fall to complete a hat-trick.
Lockie Ferguson and Jacob Duffy were tidy with the ball in the early overs before legspinner Sodhi showed his class in the middle stages, capturing 3-21.
After an underwhelming ODI series, where they won 3-0, but could have easily lost two games, this was much more like it from the Black Caps – delivering their most clinical outing of the Ireland tour.
Cleaver had a standout T20 Super Smash campaign for the Central Stags, finishing as the second top run-scorer in the competition with 369 at 46 with a strike rate of 166 – behind only Bracewell (478).
That included an unbeaten 114 from 54 balls against Otago in Dunedin in November.
He was influential in getting New Zealand to 179-4 from their 20 overs – the third highest T20I score at the venue.
Batting at three, Cleaver looked right at home in international cricket – working the ball around nicely for runs, but producing a strong power game when needed.
He hit five fours and four sixes in his unbeaten knock – scoring at a strike rate of 141.
Cleaver brought up his first T20I half-century in style, flicking McCarthy for six over deep square leg.
Ireland were left to rue a sloppy missed stumping from wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker when Cleaver was on 40 in the 14th over, punishing them with a further 38 runs.
After being sent in, New Zealand made a blazing start with hard-hitting opener Finn Allen taking it to Ireland early on.
New Zealand struck 51 runs from the first six overs during the power play, only losing the wicket of Martin Guptill.
The Black Caps did well building partnerships through the innings, producing stands of 44, 26, 53, 48, and an unbroken eight-run effort to finish, not losing wickets in clumps.
Opener Paul Stirling got Ireland off to a fast start, but Ferguson produced the key breakthrough in the third over, getting him to hole out to Mitchell Santner at mid off.
Duffy then struck in the next over, knocking over Gareth Delany first ball to leave Ireland in trouble at 24-2.
Things went from bad to worse when Glenn Phillips ran out danger man Harry Tector with a direct hit at the bowler’s end as he tried to scamper through for a quick single.
When Irish skipper Andy Balbirnie’s poor run with the bat continued, edging through to Cleaver off Duffy, Ireland were 41-4 and needing a miracle.
The big moment
Ireland were left to lament a sloppy missed stumping from Tucker when Cleaver was on 40 in the 14th over off left-am spinner George Dockrell. He made them pay, scoring a further 38 runs and played some big shots late in the innings to get New Zealand to a challenging total.
Best with bat
Cleaver was terrific in just his second T20 international and showed he has the quality and temperament to succeed at this level. Preferred on this tour over Tim Seifert, he more than took his chance and will get more opportunities for New Zealand in cricket’s shortest form.
Best with ball
Take your pick. Ferguson and Duffy were accurate up front, but Sodhi created havoc in the middle overs with Ireland having few answers to his bowling. Sodhi finished with 3-21 from his three overs with Bracewell then nabbing the last three wickets in successive balls to complete a hat-trick.
The big picture
Job done. The Black Caps wrapped up the T20I series with a game to play on Saturday (NZ time). After unconvincingly winning the ODI series 3-0, which included two last-gasp finishes, New Zealand have been far more polished with bat and ball in the T20s.
التعليقات