Washouts, upsets and NZ punching above their weight have been highlights of almost every ICC event in the recent past. This year too was nothing different. The tournament kicked off with NZ crushing the defending champions with 89 runs. Ireland, now a full member who has a history of causing upset first knocked out WI before the Super 12s and then defeated Eng by 5 runs by DLS.
Due to these events, Group A is wide open unlike B and any 2 teams out of NZ, ENG, and AUS can still qualify for the semis. Australia has to win big against Afghanistan as their NRR is negative. Whereas, ENG and NZ just have to win their remaining matches.
NZ should vary from Ireland, especially their bowling attack which has caused major problems for every big team in the tournament. They have a very good pace attack consisting of Campher, Little, Mcarthy and Adair.
NZ batting lineup has been too dependent on Glenn Phillips in the last 2 games as he has scored a total of 51 % of team runs against SL and ENG. The top 3 are yet to fire which isn’t ideal for a side that has Mitchell Santner at 7
- Date: November 4, 2022
- Venue: Adelaide
- Time: 2:30 pm LOCAL, 9:30 am IST
Probable Playing XI
New Zealand: Devon Conway (wk), Finn Allen, Kane Williamson (c), Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson
Ireland: Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie (c), Lorcan Tucker (wk), Harry Tector, George Dockrell, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Simi Singh, Barry McCarthy, Josh Little
Pitch/Venue Report:
The Adelaide is usually a good batting surface with short square and long straight boundaries. Since its early in the season and the pitches are fresh fast bowlers had a lot of help against India in the last game in 1st 6 overs
- Total matches 10
- Matches won batting first 4
- Matches won bowling first 5
- Average 1st Inns scores 154
Match Ups
- Tucker vs Santner: 21 off 14, 1 out
- Tucker vs Sodhi: 12 off 14, 1 out
- Dockrell vs Sodhi 3 off 8, 3 outs
- Stirling vs Ferguson: 7 off 11, 2 outs
- Phillips vs Campher: 26 off 19, 0 out
- Phillips vs Dockrell: 18 off 19, 0 out
- Allen vs Little: 5 off 7, 2 outs
- Mitchell vs Little: 15 off 10, 2 outs
Form Update (Last 5 innings)
- Phillips – 267 runs @ 171 SR
- Conway – 174 runs @ 136 SR
- Allen – 103 run @ 187 SR
- Tucker – 180 runs @ 130 SR
- Stirling – 133 runs @ 135 SR
- Little – 5 wickets @ 7.5 eco
- McArthy – 5 wickets @ 9.2 eco
- Delany – 4 wickets @ 7.6 eco
- Santner – 11 wickets @ 6.1 eco
- Southee – 10 wickets @ 7.7 eco
Key Players & Fantasy Picks
Paul Stirling
According to the Cricviz Analyst, since the start of 2015, he strikes at 148 in the Powerplay. There have been more than 200 players to face 450+ Powerplay deliveries in that time and Stirling’s strike rate is the 17th highest. He has reached fifty 8 times in the Powerplay in T20s, which is the most by a batter after Chris Gayle (10) and David Warner (9).
In a T20I against West Indies, Stirling’s 67 is the highest individual score in the Powerplay in the history of T20 Internationals. Having made his debut in 2008, Stirling has a stellar record in the T20 format with 7781 runs at an SR of 141. He is also a handy off-spin bowler with 77 wickets to his name in the format.
Another area which puts Stirling ahead is his ability to play spin. In all T20s and T20Is, he has scored runs against right-arm leg break at an impressive SR of 156. And against left-arm orthodox, he strikes at 140. Stirling should be your bankable pick in Fantasy XI along with Tucker and Tector
Lorcan Tucker
He was not picked in the squad for WC and this year he is Ireland’s leading getter with 195 runs. He played a blinder in the last game against Australia and with a little support from another end would have even pulled off a miraculous chase
Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner
Spin to win could be NZ’s mantra against Ireland. Sodhi has a very good head-to-head record against almost every Ireland batter. Santner has been bowling economic spells game after game and has picked up 11 wickets in his last 5 games at 6.1 eco. Even against good sides like Australia and England, he didn’t allow the batters to go after him.
Glenn Phillips
His 100 against SL has been the highlight of the WC so far and became the only batter after Miller and Maxwell to score 2 100s in t20is batting at 4 or below. He has single-handedly carried NZ’s batting in the last 2 games and is an excellent athlete on the field
In the bowling department, one can always rely on Boult and Southee and the kind of form they have been in t20s for the past 2 years Ireland’s top order is going to find it tough if there is some assistance for the seamers. Similarly, Josh Little can cause significant damage to NZ’s brittle top order.
Fantasy XI For NZ vs IRE
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