England and Ireland have earned 20 and 10 points respectively from the opening series of the World Cup Super League, courtesy of the 2-1 result of the three-match rubber. Ireland won the last match of the series on Tuesday at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Southampton.
The World Cup Super League has been introduced to determine qualification for the ICC World Cup 2023, to be held in India. 13 teams – 12 ICC Full Members and Netherlands – will play four home and four away three-match series as a paet of the Super League.
At the end of the league, India (as a host) and seven top-ranked teams will get a direct qualification for the marquee event in 2023. The remaining teams will have to play qualifying tournaments with other teams for the entry.
Introduced to bring context to ODI cricket, the Super League will see teams earning 10 points for a victory. Matches ending with no-results will have both the teams getting five points each.
Brilliant centuries from captain Andrew Balbirnie and Paul Stirling steered Ireland to a memorable victory of seven wickets against England in the third ODI against England on Tuesday at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.
Stirling (142 off 128 deliveries) and Balbirnie (113 off 112) nullified the effort of England skipper Eoin Morgan who had played a scintillating knock of 104 off 86 deliveries to help England post 328. But a stand of 214 runs between Stirling and Balbirnie helped Ireland reach the target with one ball to spare.
Brief scores: England 328 all out (Eoin Morgan 106, Tom Banton 58; Craig Young 3-53), Ireland 329-3 (Paul Stirling 142, Andrew Balbirnie 113; Adil Rashid 1-61)