Ireland created history at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, when they defeated England by three wickets. Kevin O’Brien played an explosive knock of 113 runs as Ireland chased down the target of 328 in the 50th over.
England won the toss and elected to bat first. Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen raised 91 runs for the first wicket before Strauss (34) was bowled by George Dockrell. In the meanwhile, Pietersen brought up his fourth World Cup fifty in just 40 balls but soon perished to Paul Stirling. He made 59 runs with seven fours and two sixes.
Ian Bell continued his good form from the previous game and hit an 86-ball 81 runs with six fours and a six. Bell also raised 167 runs for the third wicket with Jonathan Trott, who missed out on a ton. Trott scored a run-a-ball 92 runs that included nine fours before he was clean bowled by John Mooney.
England could not capitalize on the Bell-Trott partnership and could add only 70 runs in the last ten overs despite having eight wickets in hand. Mooney was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/63 off his nine overs.
Chasing an improbable 328 runs to win, no one would have given Ireland a chance to win against a team like England. Ireland started in bizarre fashion loosing skipper William Porterfield (0) off the first ball of the innings.
However, Stirling (32) and former England player Ed Joyce (32) added 62 runs for the second wicket in less than ten overs to keep the run chase alive. Niall O’Brien too contributed 29 runs to the total before England bounced back picking up three wicket s for just eight runs.
Kevin O’Brien and Alex Cussack then added a record 162 runs for the sixth wicket to bring the match back into balance. Just when it appeared that the duo would finish the match, Cussack was run out. He made a 58-ball 47 runs.
O’Brien, Ireland’s hero tonight, blazed to his maiden World Cup hundred off just 50 balls, which is now the fastest century in the World Cups. He was run out on 113 runs in the penultimate over. He hit 13 fours and six sixes. Mooney (33) and Johnston (7) remained undefeated as Ireland won the match with five balls to spare.
Kevin O’Brien was declared the man of the match for this splendid hundred.