In the ongoing T20 World Cup European Regional Final in Edinburgh, Ireland became the first team to qualify after overnight rain ended any hope of play in the morning match at Goldenacre, where Ireland had been scheduled to play Germany in their penultimate encounter.
The wash-out combined with earlier wins over Italy, Denmark, Austria, and Jersey takes Ireland clear at the top of the table on 9 points, five clear of the rest of the field bar the likewise unbeaten hosts Scotland.
Ireland is therefore guaranteed a spot at the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will be staged in the West Indies and the United States, with two spots up for grabs at the qualifier. Following their 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier heartbreak, Ireland made a strong comeback in the Europe Qualifier.
Scotland still needs one more point from their final two games to mathematically guarantee themselves the second spot, but their net run rate advantage over Italy, who are on two wins from four, is such that anything short of an extraordinary run of routs would also see Scotland through.
We’ll Celebrate Job Done This Afternoon: Ireland Captain Paul Stirling
Ireland had made strong start to the tournament with a close-fought victory over Italy by seven runs. Having set a target of 158 from their 20-overs quota, they restricted Italy to 151/9. It was a 39-ball 61 from Curtis Campher and 41 from Harry Tector which helped Ireland win the match.
After the rained-out game against Germany, skipper Stirling expressed his joy in having booked their berth for the T20 World Cup.
“While it’s true that we’d rather have achieved qualification on the field today, we’re delighted to have achieved our primary objective of qualifying for next year’s T20 World Cup. We came to Scotland with a clear plan and style of play we wanted to implement, and I think we delivered on that front.
So, we’ll celebrate job done this afternoon, but there is a trophy on the line tomorrow and we are keen to continue that winning momentum going into the India T20 series next month,” Paul Stirling told ICC.
Ireland and Scotland are scheduled to play tomorrow in what appears to be the de facto tournament final.
Ticket punched!
Due to rain today’s match against Germany has had to be abandoned, so we’ve qualified for the T20 World Cup.
Congratulations lads ???
WE’RE HEADING TO THE WORLD CUP ?#BackingGreen ☘️? pic.twitter.com/EOlFRer0qm
— Cricket Ireland (@cricketireland) July 27, 2023