USA rally from 16-4 to 188-6 before holding Ireland to 162-6 as they mark the historic first game at home against a full ICC member with victory; Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie said “it was a brutal thing and not good enough for us,” the teams meet in the second T20 on Thursday before three ODIs.
Ireland’s loss to the USA followed a first-round outing at the recent T20 World Cup
The United States shocked Ireland when they scored their historic first home game against an International Cricket Council member team with a 26-run victory at Florida.
America’s historic day started off disappointingly, as they fell to 16-4 after choosing to hit, but Sushant Modani (50 of 39 balls) and Gajanand Singh (65 of 42) then put down 110 of 70 balls for the fifth wicket.
Marty Kain (39th versus 15) then made a powerful cameo when the hosts scored 188-6.
Ireland’s starter Paul Stirling hit 31 of 15 balls early in the response and Lorcan Tucker scored an undefeated 57 of 49 balls, but no other batter passed 19 as the visitors lost grounds at regular intervals and finished 162 -6.
Ireland’s defeat followed a first-round outing at the recent T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, where losses to Namibia and Sri Lanka saw them miss the Super 12 stage.
Ireland faces the USA in another T20 on Thursday before the teams play three one-day internationals on December 26, 28 and 30.
Ireland captain Any Balbirnie, who was fired for four after opening batting with Stirling, said: “It started out really well, but from there it was pretty brutal on our part and not good enough.
“We knew it was a good wicket and we would have to work hard for all 10 wickets if we were going to get them. We didn’t create enough chances and we didn’t throw well enough.”
“They played brilliantly, but we also gave them a lot of bad balls, which is disappointing. We just weren’t good enough to deserve to lose.”
Ireland is ranked 17th in the ICC T20 international ranking, 13 places ahead of the USA, which is ranked 30th.
