THE HAGUE: Ireland survived a late blitz by Tim Pringle to beat the Netherlands by one run in the Tri-Nation T2O International series on Sunday.
Pringle clobbered an unbeaten 13-ball 35 as he nearly dragged his side to an unlikely win chasing a target of 151 in The Hague.
Ireland seemed to be cruising, with the Netherlands floundering at 108-6 and just three overs remaining, until Pringle came in.
The 21-year-old hit two fours and three sixes, two of his maximums coming in the last three balls of the final over, to set up a grandstand finish.
But Ireland’s Mark Adair at the other end who held his nerve by limiting Pringle to a single off the last ball and securing the win by the closest of margins in their first match of the series.
Earlier, the hosts won the toss and sent Ireland in to bat, with bowling all-rounder Adair putting in an ultimately game-winning turn with the bat at number eight by smashing 49 off 24 to drag his side to a total of 150-8.
Netherlands kickstarted the Tri-Nation series by beating Scotland on Saturday by 41 runs, all three of the participating sides will take part in June’s T20 World Cup in the United States and West Indies.
Brief scores:
IRELAND (M. Adair 49, L. Tucker 40; T. Pringle 3-32); NETHERLANDS (T. Pringle 35 not out, M. O’Dowd 33, B. de Leede 32; F. Hand 3-18).
Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2024
