It is 2006. England is travelling to Belfast, Ireland for the first time to play an ODI that would be the first-ever official ODI game for Ireland against a test-playing side. More than 16 years later, Ireland geared themselves to take on England in a T20 world cup game, this rivalry may not be as competitive as the few other neighbouring countries have between them but there is enough interest associated to Irish – British contests.
Ireland lost their previous game to Sri Lanka at Hobart while England defeated Afghanistan at Perth last Saturday.
Ireland will as usual start this match as underdogs while England would like to continue their winning run before facing arch-rivals Australia & New Zealand later on.
The pitch at Melbourne will offer some assistance to Fast bowlers of both sides as it did in the previous game of India vs Pakistan held here on Sunday.
Ireland relies heavily on their batting, especially the openers, Paul Stirling & skipper Andrew Balbirinie. Stirling has shown some excellent form with scores of 66(48)* & 34(25) against Windies & Sri Lanka respectively.
England on other hand has a pretty all-round side despite not having Jofra and Bairstow for this World cup. They’ll like Sam Curran & Chris Woakes to use the swing effectively if it’s offered by the pitch. They would also like their key player Ben Stokes to make some runs before heading further into the tournament.
Time & Venue
The Match will be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Victoria. Toss is scheduled at 9:30 A.M IST & 4 PM Local.
Broadcasting Details
The game can be viewed at Star Sports Network or Hotstar in India & Fox sports in Australia.
What to Expect
This could be a very high-scoring game at Melbourne if England bats first and the openers survive the first 3-4 overs without any loss. Ireland can have a good chance of winning if they bowl first.
Probable XIs
England: Jos Buttler (c) (wk), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Harry Brooks, Liam Livingston, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
Ireland: Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirinie (c), Lorcan Tucker (wk), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Simi Singh, Mark Adair, Bary Mcarthy, Joshua Little.
Players to watch out for
Openers and Senior players of both the teams, Jos Buttler & Paul Stirling can be the players to watch out for, Ben Stokes might get a promotion in the batting order so he also is one to look out for.
Important Statistics
Moeen Ali is 5 runs away from completing 1000 T20I runs.
Jos Buttler is 64 runs away from surpassing Eoin Morgan to become the highest run scorer for England in T20I history.
The average first Innings total at Melbourne in the last 5 T20IS is 146.
Key Matchups
Paul Stirling vs Sam Curran (in T20s): 54 runs, 27 balls, 1 dismissal.
Alex Hales vs Gareth Delany: 16 runs, 5 balls, 1 dismissal.
ENG vs IRE Dream11 Team
Note: To get our final Team After Toss, You can join us on our Telegram Channel “Clan For Gamers“
Match Prediction
We Predict England to win this match, with their top order and the duo of Wood/Curran being their match-winner, However, if Ireland has to give them a tough fight, Stirling and Adair have to perform up to their full potential
