Clinical Ireland down Netherlands in T20 World Cup match

Ireland have registered their first victory in the T20 World Cup 2021 against the Netherlands by seven wickets in the Group A opener at Abu Dhabi.

After winning the toss, Netherlands opted to bat but their party was ruined after Curtis Campher came up with a player of the match performance with the bowl. The pacer took four wickets in four balls to put his side in the driving seat.

Campher was supported well from the other bowling end with fellow quick Mark Adair managing impressive figures of 3-9, becoming Ireland's most economical bowler in the T20 World Cup.

Netherlands got off to a disastrous start after opener Ben Cooper was run out in the first over. Max O'Dowd took charge and ended with 51-runs on the board and was the top scorer for the team.

Campher sent back Colin Ackermann (11), Ryan ten Doeschate (0) and Scott Edwards (0) for a hat-trick and then bowled Roelof van der Merwe (0) in a sensational over.

He becomes only the third bowler in T20 International history to achieve the feat after Afghanistan's Rashid Khan and Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka in 2019.

Skipper Pieter Seelaar scored 21 to take Netherlands past the 100-run mark. Netherlands posted a low total of 106 after being bowled out in the 20th over.

The run chase was a straightforward task for the Irish batsmen. The Netherlands bowling attack managed to take three wickets of Kevin O'Brien (9), Andy Balbirnie (8), and Gareth Delany (44) but couldn't defend the low total.

Opener Paul Stirling and Curtis Campher finished the job after remaining unbeaten on 30 and seven respectively in the 16th over.