Ireland vs England, 20th Match, Group 1 at Melbourne, T20 WC, Oct 26 2022 - Ball by Ball Commentary

The next game between Afghanistan and New Zealand is on the same ground. The rain has persisted, leading to a delay in start. So that allows time for this game to sink in. Thanks for joining in, hope you enjoyed the joyride of a game as much as we did. I'm Ekanth, signing off on behalf of Deivarayan Muthu, my report-writing co-commentator, our scorers, Thilak Rama and M Venkat Raghav.

So Ireland have done it! Historic day reminiscent of the famous win at the 50-over World Cup win in 2011. Their batting and bowling was amazing for a while but not throughout, the fielding needs to improve but boy are they heading onwards and upwards! For England, this heightens the stakes for the game against Australia, also at the MCG. Mark Wood was quite candid at the mid-innings interview, saying they gave away runs. Buttler mentioned it and noted giving runs on both sides of the wicket was an issue. So lots to work on which will be in focus on Friday.

Andy Balbirnie, Ireland Captain and POTM: We were disappointed with losing seven wickets in a heap late in our innings. It was tough, their bowlers had good variations. Our message was to create chances to be in with a shot. But we were off the blocks with Lorcan Tucker, he took a few blows but continued. (On the win) It's amazing, kind of emotional. To come here against tournament favourites here at the MCG, where we have never played a game before, is amazing. A few of the fans in the crowd have extended their stay. Their support has been wonderful and will do a lot to grow the game back home. We have Afghanistan here on Friday, quick turnaround. Look forward to it. We were fortunate drops did not cost us but we need to improve.

Jos Buttler, England Captain: I thought we were poor in the first 10 overs and let them get away. We were not consistent enough, let them score on both sides of the wicket. The second ten overs were much better. We let them have 20-30 more in the first ten but pulled it back. Myself getting out first over didn't help, we never managed to get initiative. The rain's gotten heavier and heavier, so no problem of coming out when we did. Ireland were excellent, they outplayed us. We made a mistake here and has made it difficult in a tough group.

Josh Little was the star with the ball early on, he was unplayable with late swing and plenty of seam movement. His lengths were immaculate and led to Jos Buttler and Alex Hales' dismissals. Adair assisted him and beat the bat often. McCarthy was good. Delany should have had three but had drop catches. In the end, it did not cost them the win.

Kashyap: "England only have themselves to blame here. When you choose to bat second, you are expected to play by the DLS RR. They were always going to get 100 in the last 10 but whyyy?"

6:53pm: Rain's gotten heavier. The match has it been called off! Ireland win by five runs via DLS. Hand shakes all round as Ireland complete a famous win. They were dominant for the most part but Moeen Ali was bringing England back into the game. Fortune favoured Ireland at the end as England were finally getting close to par after being well behind for pretty much all of the innings. But the brilliance up top is what makes this a deserved win. Lovely scenes now as the Irish players have handshakes with fans, who are congratulating them.

6:46pm: Play has to restart within ten minutes. 6:56 is the cut off time. If it doesn't start by then it's game over. If it doesn't start by then it's over. But a couple of minutes later, Mike Atherton says intensity's reduced but there is still a steady drizzle. Coach Matthew Mott has a word with the ump and leaves with six minutes to go to the cut-off time. Drizzle's still on.

Malghani: "Rain rain, go to Spain."

6:41pm: It's started raining again and the umpires are taking the players off. England are five short of 110, the par score at this stage. Remember, there was a delay at the start of play, so we might start losing overs soon. It looks steady, Nasser Hussain says it's the heaviest it has been so far.

Charlie : "This over of spin was something that Ireland could have done without."

Gary: "Aren't most catches by 'Hand'?" Not all?

shaheem: "20 mins of livingstone and its game over "

Zubin: "@SidB Presumably because Delaney has 2 overs left, they've sent in Moeen instead of the right handed Livingston"

Rahim: "Are wickets disadvantage to the batting sides on D/L?" Yes, it increases the par score

Despite the two LHBs, Delany continues

SidB: "Even though Malan seriously needs to tee off now, but to me it makes absolutely no sense to hold back Livingstone once Brook got out. He could've changed course in a couple of overs, and even if he got out attempting to do that, Eng still have enough depth."

Ridwa: "Malan can be Virat today."