Desperation, and desire spur Ireland on

The Ireland fans, mostly made up of family members of the players, chants “Ireland’s call,” a song often heard at Ireland’s rugby matches. © Wisden India
The past two weeks have been difficult for the Ireland players in the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand. They had their moments in their opening Group D match with Sri Lanka, but eventually succumbed to a brilliant partnership between Dhananjaya Lakshan and Kamindu Mendis, who took the game away from them in a tricky chase. Two days later against Pakistan, they had no answer to Shaheen Afridi’s assault, wilting and folding for 97 before the batsmen flattened their bowlers to reach the target in less than nine overs.
The two defeats put them out of the run for a place in the knockouts, but they had one last game to go in the league stage, against Afghanistan on Saturday (January 20). The Afghans were coming into the game on the back of a contrasting run, having beaten both Pakistan and Sri Lanka to emerge as the strongest side in the group.
Ireland, put in to bat, did well to reach 225 for 8. It was their highest score of the tournament, and the bowlers finally had some runs on the board to put up a fight.
A few early wickets went down, and a small group of fans, mostly made up of family members of the players themselves, joined the party, egging them on by chanting “Ireland’s call,” a song often heard at Ireland’s rugby matches.
Harry Tector, the captain, led from the front with an all-round performance, and Afghanistan’s batsmen started rolling over like nine pins. It came down to the last over in the end, with Afghanistan seven runs away from a win but with only one wicket in hand.
A no-ball, a wide, and a missed opportunity from Afghanistan off the first legal delivery of the over meant the equation changed to five from five. Max Neville held his nerves to pitch one up, and Qais Ahmed, trying to play a big shot, skied one for Graham Kennedy to run in from point and take a catch. A dramatic four-run win was sealed, and the Irish camp erupted in celebrations.
“The boys really, really wanted to win the game, especially after playing the way we did against Pakistan,” says Tector, still beaming from the performance. “We wanted to put that right. We are a side who take a lot of pride in our cricket. Some of the catches taken towards the end of the innings were very important. The guys were just incredible today.
“Against Sri Lanka, we gave ourselves a chance with the ball but against Pakistan, we just did not do our country or our jersey any justice. We took out all the good things from both those games and it all seemed to work perfectly against Afghanistan. I am over the moon with this win.”
Joshua Little, the left-arm pacer, bowled a crucial penultimate over, giving away just three runs and picking up the wicket of Mujeeb Zadran.
“Harry kept coming up to me and asking me what kind of balls was I going to bowl, but I told him to leave me alone, I wanted to have a clear mind,” Little tells Wisden India. “I told him I will set my own fields, I just backed myself to do the job.
“When we went to the dressing room in the innings break, we spoke about how much we wanted to win. We discussed how much belief we had in ourselves as a team, and how much pride we took in representing Ireland. That spurred us on to give our best for this one, which we couldn’t in the first two games.”

“We are a side who take a lot of pride in our cricket. The guys were just incredible against Afghanistan.” – Harry Tector. © ICC
Hundreds of Afghan fans turned up at Cobham Oval for the game, making a lot of noise through the contest. But the Irish fans, much smaller in number, put up a great fight, creating a fantastic atmosphere at the ground.
“I think the supporters did pretty good, they battled it out against the very loud Afghanistan supporters,” Tector chipped in. “They are all our parents, friends and family, they have flown in all the way from home to back us, so it really feels great to give them a performance they can be proud of.”
“That was pretty nerve-wracking,” the proud father of Mark Donegan, the wicketkeeper batsman, tells Wisden India as the supporters break into another song. “It was a great victory, but that’s what the boys keep doing to us, keeping us all on the edge all the time!”
On the morning after the win, we learn that there wasn’t much scope for post-match celebrations, with a morning flight scheduled for Christchurch, where Ireland will next play Windies in their first Plate Championship game.
“The most recently promoted Test sides have churned out the most exciting and the closest game in the tournament so far, that shows the strength and depth in both the teams,” Tector points out. “We want to do well and get senior honours. If I do play a Test for Ireland ever, I am sure a lot of these U-19 players from this side will be there too.”
The best Ireland can do now is to finish ninth, by clinching the Plate Championship. That would be a great achievement for the side, says Tector, and with momentum in their stride, these boys could well be the ones to watch out for over the next two weeks.