Published: May 21, 2017, 10:57 PM (IST)
Edited: May 21, 2017, 11:09 PM (IST)
In the penultimate match of the Tri-Nation series, New Zealand hammered Ireland by a whopping margin of 190 runs. Except the toss, nothing clicked for the hosts as their bowlers were hammered all round the park and batsmen faltered in pursuit of 345. Tom Latham, captaining in his first series in the absence of Kane Williamson, was adjudged the Man of the Match for registering his maiden ODI ton as skipper. He struck a flamboyant 104 (off 111 balls) and set the tone before the Kiwi bowlers rattled the Irishmen inside 40 overs. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Ireland vs New Zealand, 5th ODI at Dublin
Chasing 345, Ireland were never in the race with wickets falling at regular intervals. No player could set the tempo for the innings and paid the price as Ireland folded in 39.3 overs. William Porterfield was the highest run-scorer with a 50-ball 48 followed by Gary Wilson (30). Paul Stirling continued his poor run whereas Ed Joyce got start before perishing. Niall O’Brien struggled to get bat on ball and made the long walk back to the hut for a 19-ball 5.
Playing their first game of the tour, Matt Henry and Corey Anderson wreaked havoc of the opposition by dismissing half the side collectively. Scott Kuggeleijn also earned two wickets whereas Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi shared a scalp each.
Talking about their forgettable performance, Porterfield stated, “We bowled well in patches. We were a little bit off. The young lads (bowlers) haven’t got their margins. All credit to Simi Singh, he stepped up in just his second game and bowled really well. what he did with the ball is pleasing. We have to get our partnerships going at the top. That’s something we need to address.”
Earlier, New Zealand were put into bat and smashed the Irish bowlers to post 344 for 6. Latham notched up his third century and was well supported by Neil Broom and Ross Taylor. The late onslaught was provided by Santner and Colin Munro (44 off 15 balls) to propel the team score above 300.
This is Black Caps’ third biggest victory on foreign soil in terms of runs. Latham spoke about his side’s all-round show on Sunday by saying, “A pretty clinical performance from us. We wanted to improve from our previous games. One of our best performances as a team. Even I wanted to bowl, but it (the track) didn’t do as much as we both (him and Porterfield) thought. It’s always nice to contribute in a winning cause. Really pleasing. It has obviously been a great preparation. One more game is left, playing cricket is crucial.”
New Zealand end the series at the first spot, with one game left versus Bangladesh. On the other hand, Ireland finish at the last spot with no victory.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 344 for 6 in 50 overs (Tom Latham 104, Ross Taylor 57, Colin Munro 44; Craig Young 2 for 83, Peter Chase 2 for 69) beat Ireland 154 in 39.3 overs (William Porterfield 48, Gary Wilson 30, George Dockrell 16; Matt Henry 3 for 36, Scott Kuggeleijn 2 for 17, Corey Anderson 2 for 15) by 190 runs.
Man of the Match: Tom Latham
FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Ireland vs New Zealand, 5th ODI at Dublin
