Not every win is a sweet joyride, especially when the underdogs choose to fight back. In a series that witnessed the opener starring a handful of intensifying windings, Ireland made the final contest of the fray an outing to remember as they took New Zealand for a ride that would eventually fall short of the finish line by a very slender margin.
It was a cricketing marvel, to say the least, and the way the Irish batters took the battle right to the heart of the Kiwis, was nothing but the best. Even in the series against India, the last T20I almost had them emerge victorious before a couple of extraordinary last three overs would help India walk away with the bragging rights.
This Ireland stars a string of impressive youngsters who believe in giving back a solid counterblast to the ones who thought playing against Ireland is going to be easy. New Zealand opted to bat first and Martin Guptill put up a swashbuckling show right from the onset as his blistering ton directed the narrative till the halfway stage of the Kiwi innings. However, it was the collective blitzkrieg of Henry Nicholls and Glenn Phillips who would shape up the Kiwi storm, leaving the hosts in utter disarray.
This is how Ireland reshaped the narrative of the thriller
The drama, however, was still to unfold at the Village. Despite the captain’s departure for a duck, a seasoned Paul Stirling took over the wheels to bring out the heavy goods. Andy McBrine got off to a fine start but couldn’t convert it into a biggie.
However, the magic happened right after as Harry Tector decided to fight back. A starry knock from the youngster witnessed Ireland giving it back to the visitors and was en route to toppling some important records along their trail of carnage until Tector existed.
Once Tector fell to Mitchell Santner, it was more of a formality for the Kiwis with the Irish tail struggling to break free. George Dockrell put in a last-ditch attempt to clinch the remarkable only to fall short by whiskers.
No matter the result, it was a heroic act from the Irish forces, and believe it or not, Ireland lost the contest by a solitary run after a redoubtable effort. Twitter took notice of this extraordinary showdown and heaped countless praises on the resolute Irish forces.
Ireland played the best cricket ever. Hang in there. Soon your side will be world class. We ♥️ Ireland Cricket.
— KP (@kp_kayp) July 16, 2022
I couldn’t quite stay awake to the end… and WHAT! I thought Ireland were on track to a famous and well-earned victory. NZ winning the series 3-0 doesn’t tell the full story: one match won by a wicket and another by a run. Ireland clearly deserve more cricket against top teams pic.twitter.com/3glj9Od7wk
— André Brett (@DrDreHistorian) July 16, 2022
In the last 2 years, Ireland have beaten a good England team & come incredibly close to beating a good New Zealand team 3 times. Yet their coach resigned because they don’t have a dedicated training facility. Imagine what cricket could be with more equally distributed resources.
— Nakul Pande (@NakulMPande) July 15, 2022
Hard Luck Ireland, but what a fightback. They are improving faster than any other minnow cricketing nations. Good for Cricket.
— R A T N I S H (@LoyalSachinFan) July 15, 2022
Absolutely Heart broken for Ireland Cricket they lost 3 close matches in a row.
New Zealand complete a 3-0 series whitewash.
1⃣ — won by 1 wicket
2⃣ — won by 3 wickets
3⃣ — won by 1 run#IREvNZ #INDvsENG #Cricket pic.twitter.com/gfaOYsNMuh— Sher Ali (@SahabShero) July 15, 2022
Ireland have lost their last 4 LOIs v IN and NZ by 4 runs, 1 wkt, 3 wkts, and 1 run respectively. This could have been the summer when the entire cricket world could be talking about them. Hopefully they will take heart from this and double down! Take a bow.
— Suhel Banerjee (@suhel) July 15, 2022
Ireland should play bigger teams more frequently in order to further establish their talent in world cricket 👏 pic.twitter.com/N0eP4HQ6X4
— 🐐 (@FOREVER_VK_FAN) July 16, 2022
admit it or not but Ireland team far better than Bangladesh and Srilanka in limited over cricket pic.twitter.com/pVAByfSEp3
— RK (@MahiGOAT07) July 16, 2022
Heartbreak for Ireland – again! 💔
They've fallen just one run short of chasing down 360 against New Zealand in the 3rd ODI at Malahide 😮#IREvNZ pic.twitter.com/4Jhvov9U7v
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 15, 2022
We may have taken the ODIs 3-0, but I'd like to say: Ireland played like true winners this series 🇮🇪 👏 They can hold their heads high & deserve all the plaudits. They played very competitive cricket in the ODIs vs NZ & T20Is vs IND. IRE deserve to play against top sides more ❤️ pic.twitter.com/n4lLS94r0s
— Sivy Kanefied 🇳🇿 (@Sivy_KW578) July 15, 2022
Leave a 💚 below for Ireland cricket 👇
What an effort today!#IREvNZ pic.twitter.com/c20i54ajnS
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) July 15, 2022
