Luck of the English puts paid to Irish hopes

The last couple of days haven't been a good advert for the Guyana tourist board. Does it always rain this often in the Caribbean Island?

On Monday the downpour that began midway through England’s World Twenty20 group match with the West Indies ruined the chances of victory for the visitors, and yesterday another deluge arrived at almost exactly the same point in England’s winner-takes-all game with Ireland. The result? Well, no result, as the rain prevented Ireland batting for the five overs needed to constitute a match, and so England went through to the Super Eight phase of the tournament at the expense of the Irish thanks to their superior run rate.

The irony of the situation wasn't lost on England skipper Paul Collingwood, whose face has been as thunderous as the weather on Monday evening after the rain had eased the West Indies to victory courtesy of the Duckworth-Lewis method used in rain-affected matches.

"I guess the rain's come around today at a time that's got us through to the next stage," he admitted. "It didn't help us yesterday but today I guess it's helped us a little bit. There was certainly a bit of turn out there and it was seaming around as well and a lot different to the wicket we played on the other day."

The difference in the wicket was evident by England’s total in the two games. Against West Indies on Monday evening they had amassed 191-5 in their 20 overs, but against Ireland they were restricted to 120-8 with the 45 of Dublin-born Eoin Morgan (above) the only knock of substance.

Ireland's impressive performance was encapsulated by their 17-year-old spinner, George Dockrell, whose bowling figures of four overs for just 19 runs are among the best of the tournament. Seamer Trent Johnston, who at 36 is old enough to be Dockrell’s dad, also bowled and fielded with the energy of a man half his age.

For England Kevin Pietersen failed once more with the bat, holing out to deep mid-wicket when he was on 9, and Collingwood was undone by a brilliant ball from Johnston. Had it not been for Morgan’s intelligent innings England would have struggled to make three figures, a fact recognised by Collingwood.

"He's got the power, he can play all the shots but he's also got a good mind and that's what you need in the middle order. You've got to adjust to the situation, and he seems to be reading it pretty well."

Even though the slow, uneven pitch required a cautious approach from Ireland when they came out to bat, they would have fancied their chances of chasing England’s sparse total. But in the second over the rain arrived and the players departed. They managed to come back on a short while later, long enough for Paul Stirling to be brilliantly caught on the boundary by Michael Lumb, before another cloudburst put an end to the day’s proceedings.

"If the rain hadn't come we were pretty confident chasing down 120 that we could knock it off. But it's just one of those things," reflected Ireland skipper William Porterfield, whose side will be heading home this morning.

As for England, they progress to the Super Eights where they'll be hoping for some more reliable weather when they face the winner of Pool A on Thursday, which in all probability will be Pakistan. ·