'A famous victory': Irish eyes are smiling after boilover World Cup upset win over England

Ireland have caused one of the biggest upsets in cricket history by beating World Cup favourites England in a major boilover at the MCG.

The rank outsiders outplayed their more-experienced opponents in every aspect of the match before rain stopped play close to the scheduled finished time with England behind on their target score by five runs.

Ireland posted an impressive total of 157 despite being bowled out four balls shy of their 20 overs and then tore through England’s top order to have them 5-105 midway through the 15th over when the umpires called a halt to proceedings.

It’s a great result for Australia as well, boosting their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals, especially if they beat England at the MCG on Friday night. It basically means the loser of Friday night’s Australia-England blockbuster at the same venue will most likely be eliminated from title contention, with the teams on 1-1 records.

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“This is a famous victory for Ireland,” said former England captain Mike Atherton on commentary when the heavens opened to signal the end of the match.

Gareth Delany and Dawid Malan collide. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

There was some controversy with England captain Jos Buttler wondering whether there had been gamesmanship from the Irish, given they were two overs behind when the weather decided the match.

But Ireland captain and man of the match Andrew Balbirnie laughed off the suggestion, saying his players were simply slow moving around the field.

Buttler was also quick to heap praise on Ireland and offered no excuses for his team’s poor performance.

England, the No.2 team in T20 rankings, were simply outplayed by the No.12 Irish.

“There’s certainly something, whether it’s gamesmanship … they knew the rain was coming and could slow the game up,” Buttler said.

“We had lost the game before that point.”

Buttler said Ireland had put them under pressure immediately after England won the toss.

“We were a long way short of where we needed to be right throughout the game and Ireland deserved to win,” he said.

“You should let it hurt … days like today are really, really disappointing and you have to feel that.

“There’s no point saying let’s sweep it under the carpet and move on, we have to reflect and do it quickly.”

Balbirnie (62 from 47 balls) and Lorcan Tucker (34) took Ireland to 1-92 off 10 overs and while England fought back, they were on the back foot.

Buttler started the England innings with a second-ball duck and they were 3-29 before it became a race between their hitting and the weather.

Melbourne’s notoriously fickle weather won – with dry conditions only a few kilometres away from the MCG when the game was called.

Buttler said England would respond and backed the character of his team.

“No doubt, I expect a reaction,” he said. “Friday is already a big occasion. It takes on that extra bit now.”  

Chasing Ireland’s 157 from 19.2 overs, England were 5-105 off 14.3 overs when Melbourne’s sodden spring intervened.

Moeen Ali hit a six, a four and a two in Gareth Delany’s over and if he’d faced one more ball and hit another six that would have been enough for England to win.

Instead, the match was called 15 minutes after the players were forced from the field.

Emotional Irish players celebrated probably the greatest moment in their country’s cricket history with a small pocket of fans.

“The way Moeen was playing, I was probably worried if they got another ball in,” Balbirnie said. “I’ve seen a lot of rain in my time playing cricket and I’ve never been happier to see that rain come down when it did.”

Balbirnie hailed the win as a massive moment for Irish cricket.

“T20 cricket – it’s probably the best (win),” he said. “I’ve played in this team for a number of years and we’ve never had a result like this.”

Black Caps fail to get on against Afghanis

New Zealand have been dealt a blow at the Twenty20 World Cup with their match against Afghanistan at the MCG washed out.

After their thumping opening game win over Australia, the Kiwis atop Group 1 were expected to make light work of the underdog Afghanis.

But Melbourne’s unpredictable weather ruined those plans, with Wednesday’s match called off without a ball being bowled.