NZ VS IRE - 37th Match, Super 12 Group 1, ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2022

Ireland's World Cup campaign is over, but they'll leave Australia with plenty of positives and plenty of good achievements. They got through to the Super-12 after a long wait, beat neighbours England at the 'G' and put up fighting performances against the likes of Australia and New Zealand. In Tucker, Campher and Joshua Little, they've found a new spine and will now start preparations for the 50-over World Cup next year. As for New Zealand, they'll have to wait for their qualification to be officially confirmed and will then either stay here / travel to Sydney for their knockout game. The toss for the second match isn't far away. Change tabs and enjoy all the action. For now, cheers and bye..

Andy Balbirnie - Losing captain - We played a top-class team and when you play such teams, you need to capitalize on all opportunities. We bowled well right through the tournament, the fielding was a bit off. (Coming to today) It was nice to set-up a platform - that has been a trend in this tournament, but we needed someone to kick on from there. We're quite happy with what we achieved (in the tournament), compared to where we were in the last 12 months, we have improved a lot, especially against good teams and we are looking forward to meeting these sides once again. (On Josh Little) He's a class operator and showed it today

Kane Williamson | Player of the Match: The ball held on the surface a little bit, I think the guys at the top were brilliant to give us the start and help us build the momentum. Then I think the spinners bowled brilliantly to get us the win. I was just trying to build some partnerships and contribute, happy to time a few balls as well today but it was a real team effort. They (Ireland) played some amazing cricket, played some challenging cricket and we had to adapt well, which I thought we did. The ball was stopping on the surface, the openers made a great start and the rest of the batters adjusted well to the conditions, especially against spin. I wanted to take my options, work on partnerships, speak with the batters about things to do going forward. We had to wait until the 9-over mark to get our first wicket. We needed to adjust our lines, bowl a bit slower and I thought the bowlers did so beautifully.

17:50 Local Time, 07:20 GMT, 12:50 IST: New Zealand take a big step towards qualifying to the semi-finals. They're on 7 points now and that means Australia and England can at best equal them on points. But their NRR is superb and it will take a lot for either of the two teams to go past them. You could say that they've packed their luggage to the knockouts and they might have made enough to confirm a first-place finish in Group 1. Chasing 186, Ireland needed a big start and their openers got them. At 68 for 0 after 8 overs, they looked set to cause an upset, but then spin did the trick for KW's men. Having realised that pace off the ball was the key, both Santner and Sodhi stuck to their task. As the rate went up, so did the panic in the Irish dug-out - wickets fell, the rate kept going up and they left themselves with too much to do in the end. New Zealand's NRR is now +2.11. England's is at +0.55 and Australia is at -0.30. You could argue that New Zealand have one foot in the semis, which should be confirmed by tonight, if not by tomorrow.

Southee to Joshua Little, 1 run, NZ win by 35 runs, fuller length delivery outside off, drilled down to long-off for a single

Southee to Joshua Little, no run, on a good length and following Little as he shuffled across, was looking to lap and was on his back as he missed

Southee to Joshua Little, SIX, smashed, they might not win, but they're making a small dent into NZ's NRR - lengthy ball at the stumps, Little cleared his left leg and heaved it into the stands, wide of mid-wicket

Southee to McCarthy, 1 run, length ball wide of off, carted down towards long-off where Ferguson doesn't pick it up, takes the ball on the bounce

Southee to Joshua Little, 1 run, on a good length and just outside off, driven to the right of mid-off for a single

Joshua Little, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Southee to Mark Adair, out Caught by Glenn Phillips!! Southee has a second, was the slower off-cutter, rolled his fingers across the seam, Adair had to reach out on the slog, doesn't get enough power on the shot, high and down into the hands of Phillips at long-on. The end is nigh for Ireland, but they're going down fighting. Mark Adair c Glenn Phillips b Southee 4(5)

Southee to Mark Adair, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Tim Southee [3.0-0-20-1] is back into the attack

Boult to Mark Adair, leg byes, 1 run, full and at the pads, Adair was backing away on the swing and missed, lobbed off the pad and rolled to the on-side

Boult to Mark Adair, 2 runs, on a good length and well outside off, Adair drags the shovel wide of mid-wicket and comes back for the second

Boult to McCarthy, 1 run, slower short ball outside off, McCarthy fore-hands the slap to mid-off for a quick single

Boult to McCarthy, 2 runs, fuller length delivery on off, driven down towards long-on and they scamper back for the second

Boult to Mark Adair, 1 run, banged in short and at the stumps, Adair backed away and then skied the pull towards deep mid-wicket, dropped well in front of the fielder

Boult to McCarthy, 1 run, yorker length delivery on off, McCarthy was coming down the pitch, almost yorked himself and squeezed it out to backward point

Trent Boult [3.0-0-31-0] is back into the attack