With the hard-hitting Kevin O’Brien for company, Gary Wilson sealed the deal for Ireland by 2 wickets against UAE in a nail-biting finish at Gabba.
Chasing a stiff target of 279, Ireland got off to a bad start as their opener Paul Stirling played a loose shot and got out in the second over of the innings. Skipper William Porterfield and Ed Joyce then stabilized the innings with a 68-run partnership before Joyce, who got lucky two times during his 37-run knock, lost his wicket to Amjad Javed. Porterfield and Niall O’Brien also got out in quick succession leaving Ireland reeling at 97/4 in 26 overs. Andy Balbirine and wicket-keeper batsman Gary Wilson then set the tone with their 74-run partnership before the former, who looked well set on 30, got out on the bowling of Mohammad Naveed. All-Rounder Kevin O’Brien then scored a swashbuckling 50 off just 25 balls to bring Ireland back into the game. Wilson played a matured innings of 80 before losing his wicket at the end of this nail-biting chase. But Cusack and Dockrell then shrugged off the little scare and secured Ireland the second victory of the tournament.
Earlier after being put into bat, UAE got off to a steady start as their openers put on 49 runs for the first wicket before they lost 5 quick wickets in a span of another 76 runs. Shaiman Anwar then played the lead role as along with Amjad Javed he took his team to the total of 278 and also brought up his first hundred in ODIs and World Cup. He scored 106 whereas Javed played a decent innings of 42. For Ireland, Stirling was the pick of the bowlers as he finished with the impressive figures of 10-0-27-2.
Wilson was adjudged the man of the match for his brilliant innings.
Brief Scores: Ireland 279/8 (Wilson 80, Kevin O’Brien 50, Javed 3-60) defeated UAE 278/9 (Shaiman 106, Javed 42, Stirling 2-27) by 2 wickets