Ireland hero joins elite club with four wickets in four balls

Ireland have thrashed the Netherlands by seven wickets in their World Cup clash after allrounder Curtis Campher became only the third player to take four wickets in as many balls in a Twenty20 international.

Campher finished with 4-26 as the Netherlands were bowled out for 106, joining Afghanistan's Rashid Khan and Sri Lankan quick Lasith Malinga in T20I's elite 'double hat-trick' club.

The Irish then cruised to 3-107 with 29 deliveries remaining in their opening Group A match.

Image Id: 3936C79901434F139C928C01E4F086D7 Image Caption: Paul Stirling guided Ireland to an comfortable win // Getty

Opener Paul Stirling was not out 30 off 39 balls after sharing a 59-run fourth wicket stand with Gareth Delaney (44 off 29 balls).

Man of the match Campher was not out seven.

Campher earlier tore apart the Dutch innings in a sensational over, much to his surprise.

The seamer revealed he did not think his bowling was going that well before the wickets started to tumble.

"To be honest I wasn't feeling great out there with the ball and then a couple of guys have just said 'crack it down the wicket here' and thankfully I was able to do that," he told Sky Sports.

Image Id: BFAD40F9C6DC4BE0ACECB67AD3D68273 Image Caption: Campher celebrates his rare achivement // Getty

"It (the wicket was) a little bit slow. Of course in the UAE it's always going to be like that so it was just nice to come off here."

The wickets all came in Campher's second over as the Netherlands fell from 2-51 to 6-51.

He first had Colin Ackermann caught down the leg side after umpire Rod Tucker's not out decision was overturned on a review.

Ryan ten Doeschate was then trapped in front before Ireland again had a Tucker decision overturned on review and Scott Edwards was given out LBW, ensuring Campher became the first Ireland player to complete a T20I hat-trick.

There was more joy for the 22-year-old Campher when Roelof van der Merwe dragged a seemingly innocuous delivery onto his stumps next ball.

Image Id: 51780C1329A44755888DC2A24D5D738F Image Caption: The scoreboard tells the story // Getty

The first member of the double hat-trick club was Malinga who took four wickets in consecutive balls twice - against South Africa in a 2007 one-day international and against New Zealand in a T20I in 2019.

Leggie Rashid Khan achieved the feat against Ireland in a 2019 T20I.

The Netherlands held on to reach triple figures thanks to opener Max O'Dowd's fighting 51 off 47 balls including seven fours and captain Pieter Seelaar's 21.

Ireland's Mark Adair took 3-9 including two wickets in the last over.

SCORECARD: Sri Lanka v Nambia

Meanwhile, former champions Sri Lanka endured an early mini-collapse before cruising to a seven-wicket win over Namibia in their opening Group A match.

After Namibia were bowled out for 96, Sri Lanka reached 3-100 in 13.3 overs but didn't have it all their own way.

Sri Lanka stumbled in their run chase, reduced to 3-26 in the sixth over after Namibia's JJ Smit (1-7), Bernard Scholtz (1-16) and Ruben Trumpelmann (1-27) struck.

However, Bhanuka Rajapaksa made Namibia pay for giving him a life on 18 when he was dropped at fine leg.

Image Id: 4B90F75171FC4946B8D4FB08F963AD1D Image Caption: Sri Lanka overcame an early wobble to win by seven wickets // Getty

He thrashed four fours and two sixes to be 42 not out off 27 balls, combining with Avishka Fernando to steer the 2014 champs to a commanding win.

Earlier, Namibia were cruising at 2-68 after Sri Lanka won the toss but the wheels fell off after the dismissals of Craig Williams (29 off 36) and skipper Gerhard Erasmus (20 off 19).

Smit (12 not out) was the only other batter to make double figures for Namibia, who lost 8-28.

The top two teams from the group will advance to the World Cup's Super 12 stage.

2021 Men's T20 World Cup

Australia's squad

Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserves: Dan Christian, Nathan Ellis, Daniel Sams

Australia's matches

Oct 23v South Africa in Abu Dhabi (2pm local time, 9pm AEDT)

Oct 28v Qualifier A1 in Dubai (6pm local time, 1am Oct 29 AEDT)

Oct 30v England in Dubai (6pm local time, 1am Oct 31 AEDT)

Nov 4v Qualifier B2 in Dubai (2pm local time, 9pm AEDT)

Nov 6v West Indies in Abu Dhabi (2pm local time, 9pm AEDT)

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2021 ICC T20 WORLD CUP SCHEDULE

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL SQUADS FOR ALL 16 TEAMS

How the teams are grouped

Round 1

Group A: Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Namibia

Group B: Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Oman

Super 12s

Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, A1, B2

Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, B1, A2