T20 WC: Ireland face tough Netherlands in their opener

Ireland are ranked 12th in the ICC Men’s T20I ranking while the Netherlands are placed 17th on the charts

Match 3 of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 will see Ireland take on their European rivals The Netherlands at the Sheik Zayed Stadium in a Group A fixture.

Ireland are ranked 12th in the ICC Men’s T20I ranking while the Netherlands are placed 17th on the T20I ranking charts.

Ireland and the Netherlands enter into the T20 World Cup with a common issue. Both teams are short of batters in their squad. Ireland’s squad is full of all-rounders and there are only a few genuine batters who can bat high up the batting order. The Netherlands’ squad too is devoid of batters who have experience playing against stronger opponents.

Also read: Scotland stun fancied Bangladesh by 6 runs on first day of T20 World Cup

Ireland skipper Andy Balbirnie and the Dutch captain Pieter Seelaar will be looking to start on a high as the two teams are poised to face Sri Lanka later in their group. A win in this match is important to improve the chances to qualify for the next round.

Head-to-head (last 5 matches)

Ireland wins: 2

The Netherlands wins: 2

No Result: 1

Form Guide:

Ireland: L-L-W-L-W

The Netherlands: L-T-W-W-L

Pitch and conditions

Eight matches were played at the Sheik Zayed Stadium in the UAE leg of the Indian Premier League. Five of those matches were won by the team chasing. This highlights that the pitch becomes good for batting as the match progresses. The average first innings score of the last three IPL games played at this venue is 188.33.

The afternoon is going to be warm and sunny. The temperature is expected to be around 37°C. Humidity level is expected to be around 29 per cent.

Deccan Herald Dream XI

Paul Stirling, Stephan Myburgh, Kevin O'Brien, Gareth Delany, Ben Cooper, Ryan ten Doeschate, Scott Edwards (wk), Brandon Glover, Mark Adair, Shane Gerkate, Pieter Seelaar

Impact player for Ireland

Paul Stirling: Paul Stirling is a veteran in the Ireland side. He brings in wealth of experience. He has played 257 T20 matches and scored 6471 runs with the high score of 115*. The gun batter holds the record of hitting most fours in T20Is. The 31-year-old has hit 288 fours in 89 matches. Stirling can also bowl. He has picked 74 wickets and has the best bowling figures of 4/10.

Impact player for the Netherlands

Brandon Glover: Brandon Glover is a right arm fast bowler. In 2019, the pacer picked 28 wickets from 19 matches which places him second on the all-time list of bowlers with most wickets in a calendar year. Glover bowls at good pace and wants to consistently bowl at around 150kph.