Ireland defeat England in stunning upset, blow World Cup wide open

Ireland have produced the biggest upset of the tournament by taking down England, opening the door wide open for Australia.

Ireland have flipped the World Cup script after defeating England on Wednesday afternoon at the MCG.

Rain delays and a slow start to their innings ultimately cost the Poms who under the Duckworth Lewis System fell short by five runs.

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Ireland got the contest underway after a rain delay and put 157 runs on the board, losing their final wicket with only three balls to spare in their innings.

Opener and skipper Andrew Balbirnie led the charge for the men in green, finishing with 62 runs from 47 deliveries.

Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker put the Poms to the sword with an 82 run partnership before Mark Wood and Liam Livingstone turned the tide with a combined six wickets.

But it was the Irish bowlers who ripped the contest out of England’s hands.

Only 31 deliveries into their run chase, England found themselves in trouble at 3-29 with Ben Stokes being sent packing by a peach of a delivery from Fionn Hand.

The inswinging ball made its way between Stokes’ bat and pad and thundered into the stumps, giving the Irish the upper hand.

Bye Ben. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP)

With dark clouds threatening over the MCG, Moeen Ali began to put the foot down, knowing serious runs were required.

The heavens however opening up after 14.3 overs forcing the two sides off and the covers back onto the pitch.

At 5-105, England were five runs shy of Ireland’s run tally at the same mark and needed the game to get going by 6:56pm (AEDT).

Unfortunately for England the rain never relented and it was Ireland who celebrated the famous upset which throws group 1 wide open.

A WIN'S A WIN! ☘️

Rain causes a premature end to #IREvENG, but the Irish have knocked off England at the MCG, blowing Group 1 of the #T20WorldCup wide open! pic.twitter.com/jTfiPuI907

— ESPN Australia & NZ (@ESPNAusNZ) October 26, 2022

The loss for England now drops them to third place in the group, behind Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

CODE Sports’ Lachlan McKirdy wrote: “Thank you @cricketireland. England have lost their second match of the #T20WorldCup. If Australia beat England, qualification is now in their hands.”

Journalist Melinda Farrell wrote: “Well, that’s it! Ireland win. And they deserve it – they really outplayed England. This group is wide open and the Aus v England match on Friday should be an absolute doozy”.

Australia currently sit fifth in group 1 with a -1.56 NRR following their crushing defeat at the hands of New Zealand.

AN HISTORIC WIN FOR IRELAND 🙌#T20WorldCup | #IREvENGpic.twitter.com/QvLpQYRpSL

— ICC (@ICC) October 26, 2022