CAN VS IRE - 13th Match, Group A, ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2024

So USA yesterday, and Canada today! The North American teams are certainly pushing their weight in this competition by upsetting the apple cart. Canada’s win today makes this group very interesting as they temporarily leapfrog into third place. Makes that clash on Sunday all the more spicy... That's all from this game, bye for now!

Saad Bin Zafar: Very proud moment for the team. The way Kirton and Movva batted, we knew we had a good total to defend. We needed a good performance from the bowling unit and I am so proud on my bowlers for putting their hand up and delivering. The wicket got a bit slow today, so it worked to our advantage. We gambled with an extra spinner and I feel both myself and Junaid bowled really well. One game at a time, we need to enjoy this win and come back strong against Pakistan. We are here to play positive cricket. (On crowd support) It is very important, cricket is growing in our country and hopefully performances like this can inspire the younger generation to take up the sport.

Paul Stirling: Tough loss today, we weren't at the races today. The target was gettable, we didn't think we'd struggle too much. We were off in all three facets today, we need to show a better game when we go to Miami and Florida. We don't want to look too far into the future, we've got USA next.

Stats by Deepu Narayanan

Lowest targets successfully defended by an Associate side in T20 WCs
124 Afg vs WI Nagpur 2016
134 Net vs Eng Chattogram 2014
138 Can vs Ire New York 2024 *
141 Sco vs Ban Al Amerat 2021

-- Canada is the 22nd team to register a win in T20 World Cups. Kenya who played two games in 2007 edition and PNG who played five matches across 2021 & 2024 are the only sides not to win even a single game in the tournament.

-- Canada is the 11th opponent to beat Ireland in T20 World Cups - the joint most number of opponents a team has lost in the tournament. Bangladesh have also lost to 11 different opposition teams.

Nicholas Kirton | Player of the Match: Bouncing back from the first game was important. Trust me, it wasn't that easy. Just tried to get in, get the pace of the wicket. Honestly it wasn't that bad. There was an area in the middle of the wicket that was a bit up and down, but otherwise it was a good wicket to bat on. Very good to get our first win in the WC. Hopefully we can continue from strength to strength. Our next focus is Pakistan. Two spinners bowled very well. Bit of purchase on offer. We spoke about adjusting pace and that area in the middle that was a bit up and down. Just taking it one day at a time.

13:58 Local Time, 17:58 GMT, 23:28 IST: Red letter day for Canada!! They create a slice of history as Ireland's tepid batting performance comes back to bite them. Batting first on this sluggish New York wicket, Canada managed to get 137 thanks to handy contributions from Kirton and Shreyas Movva. In reply, their bowlers kept things very tight in the powerplay as Ireland could manage just a solitary boundary off the first four overs. The dot balls took a toll on Stirling who skewed his big pull shot through to the keeper. Then, Canada's spinners choked Ireland in the middle phase, as skipper Saad bin Zafar bowled an economical spell of 1/22. Dillon Heyliger also kept things tight from the other end with his tidy spell of 2/18, as Ireland went through a phase of nine overs with no boundaries. The top order batters disappointed for Ireland, but they found some late resurgence from Dockrell and Mark Adair. However, the target proved too stiff and Canada's bowlers held their nerve to give them a famous win.

J Gordon to Dockrell, 1 run, First win in a T20 World Cup for Canada! Hard length delivery on off, Dockrell dances down the track and slaps it down to long-on. Finishes with a single but Canada take home the win. They win by 12 runs. Celebrations in the Canadian camp, the players have their arms aloft and are running helter-skelter. The substitutes run onto the field from the dugout, smiles all around!!

J Gordon to McCarthy, byes, 1 run, on a length and goes over the stumps by a bigger margin. A swing and a miss but this time Ireland take a bye

J Gordon to McCarthy, no run, that should settle the game!! Fuller delivery that goes just over the stumps. A swing and a miss for McCarthy. He tried to take a bye but Dockrell wasn't quick enough to react

J Gordon to McCarthy, 2 runs, back of length and this time at the stumps, McCarthy top edges the ball but lands safely behind square for a couple of runs

Barry McCarthy, right handed bat, comes to the crease

J Gordon to Mark Adair, out Caught&Bowled!! Gone! Short ball outside off, Adair slaps it aimlessly and only manages a top-edge. Goes high in the air but doesn't clear the pitch. The bowler calls for it and takes it neatly with the sun in his eyes. Ice in the veins of Jeremy Gordon. He's nearly got his side through here... Mark Adair c and b J Gordon 34(24) [4s-3 6s-1]

J Gordon to Mark Adair, THATS OUT!! Caught&Bowled!!

J Gordon to Mark Adair, no run, hard length delivery on off stump, a swing and a miss for Adair

Jeremy Gordon [3.0-0-13-1] is back into the attack

17 off the last over. A discussion between bowler and captain, as a few others chime in to encourage Jeremy Gordon

Kaleem Sana to Mark Adair, 1 run, low full toss on leg, Adair tried to tickle it away towards the fine leg boundary again. This time gets more bat and gets it towards short fine. Just a single