Match Details

Canada Vs Ireland
June 7, New York, 10.30 am local, 2.30 pm GMT, 8.00 pm IST

The big picture – all eyes on the New York pitch

It has been a rough start for cricket in New York with the focus more on the pitches than the cricket being played on them. No team has gone past 100 in four innings at this point, with uneven bounce and forward movement drawing much criticism.

The fast bowlers have dominated here so far, claiming 18 wickets out of 26 to fall at an economy rate of 5.46. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 77 here on June 3 and South Africa took 16.2 overs to chase it down. On Wednesday, India bowled out Ireland for 96 and while their chase was a bit more comfortable, Rohit Sharma retired with an upper arm injury, while Rishabh Pant also suffered an elbow injury and missed some attention. There was a need.

Just two days later, as Ireland prepare to play another match against Canada in New York, construction has focused entirely around the pitch.

“It’s hard to adjust when you don’t know what you have to adjust to,” Ireland head coach Heinrich Mullan said after the eight-wicket loss to India. “You have to keep in mind that when you play the game you need a really good level or as good a level as you can get and unfortunately what we’ve had in the last two He’s not necessarily alive in the games, so hopefully it will ease up a bit in the next day or so and we can see some good cricket on Friday.”

This is an important game for both Canada and Ireland, who have suffered defeats in their opening games. Another loss here and the road to the Super Eight becomes difficult. Canada, who played their opening match in Dallas where they went down in a high-scoring clash against the USA, have not been in great T20I form. They have lost each of their last five T20Is, and all the pitch talk here might not bode well for their confidence.

“This wicket is a bit, kind of, you might say, a tough one. So you can’t play some T20 shots, so you have to play traditional cricket. And from what I see, it’s playing up. It’s a bit tougher than Dallas,” said Canadian batsman Navneet Dhaliwal, who scored a 44-ball 61 against the US. “It’s a lot more lateral movement so there’s a lot more swing than Dallas so it’s a little bit harder if you want to mainly hit good length balls.”

The match between Canada and Ireland is likely to take place on pitch no. 4, the same one that hosted the India-Ireland clash and the warm-up game between India and Bangladesh. Apart from the surface, the slow, sand-based outfield also did not help the batsmen at all. Who will be the first team to cross the 100 mark in New York?

Farm Guide

Canada LLLLL (Last five complete T20Is, most recent first)
Ireland LWWWL

In the Spotlight – Dalvin Helliger and Mark Adair

Dalvin Helliger’s all-round abilities could come in handy for Canada. He has been in good bowling form this year, picking up five wickets in as many games as he took eight ticks in an over. His medium pace and wicket-to-wicket lines could be New York’s best at this level. So his lower order ball can be targeted. No other Canadian batsman has a higher strike rate in T20Is than Heyliger since the inception of 2023 – 243.75. He scored 117 runs off just 48 balls, most of which came in the death overs.

Mark Adair has been in superb form this year. He is comfortably Ireland’s highest wicket-taker in 2024 with 18 scalps in 10 T20Is and an economy rate of 8.16. Also, he knows what kind of ball to bowl at this level, bowling four overs for just 27 on Wednesday and picking up the crucial wicket of Virat Kohli.

Team News

Both teams want to progress at a faster pace at this level. Off-spinner Nikhil Dutta gave away 41 runs in 2.4 overs in Canada’s opener, so there is a chance they could bring in left-arm pacer Rishiv Joshi to add to their pace resources.

Canada (Probable XI): 1 Aaron Johnson, 2 Navneet Dhaliwal, 3 Pragat Singh, 4 Nicholas Curtin, 5 Shreyas Mowa (wicket), 6 Dilpreet Bajwa, 7 Saad Bin Zafar (capt), 8 Dalvin Helliger, 9 Nikhil Dutta/Rashiv Joshi , 10 Kalim Sana, 11 Jeremy Gordon.

Harry Tector injured his right thumb when he was hit by a ripping Jasprit Bumrah bouncer. Ireland batting coach Gary Wilson said Tector looked fine after an initial examination but his availability for the Canada clash would be discussed at a later date. If he doesn’t recover in time, Ireland could bring Ross Adair into the mix.

Ireland (Possible XI): 1 Paul Stirling (captain), 2 Andy Balburnie, 3 Lorcan Tucker (wicket), 4 Harry Tector/Ross Adair, 5 Curtis Kaempfer, 6 George Dockrill, 7 Gareth Delaney, 8 Mark Adair, 9 Barry McCarthy , 10 Josh Little, 11 Ben White.

Pitch and conditions

It’s another early morning in New York and the weather looks good for a game of cricket. The temperature is likely to hover around the 29 degree (Celsius) mark. Expect it to be a little humid as well.

Stats and Trivia

  • Canada and Ireland have a 2-2 record in T20Is, but have not met since 2019. His last T20I was back in 2013.
  • Canadian captain Saad Bin Zafar has an economy rate of 6.14 against right-handed batsmen in T20 cricket. Ireland’s line-up consists entirely of right-handed players.
  • Mark Adair is sixth on the T20I wicket-taker list this year, with 18 wickets in 10 matches.

Quotations

“We were probably a little bit off with our length with the ball, but it was going to be very difficult to defend 96. I think you rarely see a team roll and then the next innings. Very rarely.” (Indian head coach) Rahul Dravid said after the game that he was able to handle it so well because he knew he only had to score 96 runs, but he also said that if the shoe was on the other foot. If it had, it could have been one. Different story.”
Gary Wilson Looks like the toss could be important in New York.

“Drop-in wickets take time to settle. I think it usually takes a year or so. It’s not ideal – I think it’s a bit early, but still, it’s a challenge. It’s like, 180-190 for Dallas, and 120-130 for here, it’s a different wicket and a different kind of competition, basically it’s interesting.”
Navneet Dhaliwal Nothing seems wrong with the New York pitch

Ashish Pant is the sub-editor of ESPNcricinfo.



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