BELFAST: Glenn Phillips’s unbeaten fifty led New Zealand to a 3-0 T20 International series whitewash of Ireland with a six-wicket win here at the Stormont ground on Friday.

Daryl Mitchell weighed in with a useful 32-ball 48 before James Neesham struck 23 off just six deliveries. Phillips was 56 not out as New Zealand chased down a target of 175 with an over to spare.

When Mitchell was caught and bowled by Josh Little, the Blackcaps were faltering at 147-4 with little more than three overs remaining.

But Phillips, who also made a match-winning fifty in the series opener, proved a thorn in Ireland’s side again before the big-hitting Neesham made sure of victory.

Ireland’s 174-6 featured veteran opener Paul Stirling’s 40, with the hosts’ total bolstered by Mark Adair’s smashed 37 off 15 balls and Curtis Campher’s 19 off eight.

Adair and Campher’s unbeaten stand of 58 from 23 deliveries gave Ireland, who have suffered agonising white-ball defeats by both India and New Zealand this season, hope of victory. But instead they suffered yet another loss to New Zealand, following a 3-0 reverse in the preceding ODI series.

Scoreboard

IRELAND:

P. Stirling c Cleaver b Sodhi 40

A. Balbirnie c Bracewell b Tickner 10

L. Tucker c Duffy b Tickner 28

H. Tector c Phillips b Duffy 23

G. Delany b Mitchell 2

G. Dockrell b Sodhi 10

C. Campher not out 19

M. Adair not out 37

EXTRAS (NB-3, W-2) 5

TOTAL (for six wickets, 20 overs) 174

DID NOT BAT: B. McCarthy, C. Young, J. Little

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-33 (Balbirnie), 2-79 (Stirling), 3-81 (Tucker), 4-92 (Delany), 5-108 (Dockrell), 6-116 (Tector)

BOWLING: Duffy 4-0-47-1 (1w, 2nb); Tickner 4-0-35-2 (1nb); Neesham 4-0-31-0; Santner 3-0-28-0; Sodhi 4-0-27-2; Mitchell 1-0-6-1 (1w)

NEW ZEALAND:

M. Guptill c Little b Dockrell 25

F. Allen b Young 14

D. Cleaver c Campher b Little 5

G. Phillips not out 56

D. Mitchell c&b Little 48

J. Neesham not out 23

EXTRAS (LB-6, W-3) 9

TOTAL (for four wickets, 19 overs) 180

DID NOT BAT: M. Bracewell, M. Santner, I. Sodhi, B. Tickner, J. Duffy

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-18 (Allen), 2-41 (Cleaver), 3-65 (Guptill), 4-147 (Mitchell)

BOWLING: Adair 3-0-22-0; Young 4-0-49-1; Little 4-0-33-2; McCarthy 2-0-12-0 (1w); Campher 3-0-36-0 (1w); Dockrell 2-0-13-1 (1w); Delany 1-0-9-0

RESULT: New Zealand won by six wickets.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Glenn Phillips

SERIES: New Zealand won three-match series 3-0.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2022