Irish etch their place in history with famous MCG victory

Ron Delany is revered in Ireland as the man who beat a star-studded field to win the 1500m final at the MCG during the 1956 Olympics.

On the eve of Ireland's cricket debut at the same venue, T20 captain Andrew Balbirnie paid homage to Delany and dared to dream.

Balbirnie and his team rose to the occasion on Wednesday, blowing apart group one in the World Cup with a barnstorming win over England.

The shock result left England, one of the tournament favourites, on the brink and needing a win in Friday night's blockbuster against Australia at the same venue.

"It will always be a special place because of tonight," Balbirnie said of the MCG.

"We did the (MCG) museum tour last night and Ronny Delany won a gold medal here.

"You see his name etched in the history of Irish sport forever.

"I hope we've done something similar."

Balbirnie was emotional post-match, saying it was Ireland's best T20 win.

"I've always said, cricket isn't a big game in Ireland, we're the flagbearers and we want to make it as big as possible," he said.

"But it's certainly an absolute pleasure to play here, to lead the first Irish team to ever play here."

The Irish captain top-scored with 62 in a player-of-the-match performance as they put England on the back foot.

Image Id: 5FE0DC90C14A4789BAE8220A4DDB2AD4 Image Caption: Fionn Hand celebrates bowling Ben Stokes // AFP

England won the toss but lost their way in the first half of the Ireland innings before regrouping and restricting them to 157.

Ireland's opening bowler Josh Little blew apart England's top order, removing Jos Buttler with his second ball and Alex Hales in his second order before third-gamer Fionn Hand rattled the stumps of Ben Stokes with his first ball.

A rescue effort from Moeen Ali was cut short as the rain intervened and the game was called off with England five runs short of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern target at 5-105 in the 15th over.

Balbirnie and teammates immediately went over to a small group of fans who congregated on the fence to laud the MCG's newest Irish heroes.

"That's why you play the game," Balbirnie said.

"A lot of our parents and families and friends extended their trip. Some of them had extended it before we had started the tournament, which was a gamble, but it's paid off."

Image Id: F53798C54CF64A44A20F0DA510E88B9D Image Caption: Ireland's cricketers applaud their fans at the MCG // AFP

Ireland lost their first qualifying game at the World Cup, beaten by Zimbabwe, but won the next two against Scotland and the West Indies to reach the Super 12 stage.

Sri Lanka then beat them easily two days ago, before they emulated Delany at the MCG.

Ireland play again at the MCG on Friday when they meet Afghanistan in Group 1 before their vanquished opponents England try and resurrect their campaign against host nation Australia.

The Irish will then meet Australia in Brisbane before rounding out their Super 12 campaign in Adelaide against New Zealand

Australia's fixtures

Oct 22: Lost to New Zealand by 89 runs

Oct 25: Beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets

Oct 28: v England, MCG, 7pm AEDT

Oct 31: v Ireland, Gabba, 7pm AEDT

Nov 4: v Afghanistan, Adelaide Oval, 7pm AEDT

Click here for the full 2022 T20 World Cup fixture