MELBOURNE: Captain of Ireland Andrew Balbirnie said his team needed regular opportunities against top teams in order to improve after the end of their T20 World Cup campaign with a loss to New Zealand in Adelaide on Friday.
Qualifiers Ireland sent shockwaves when they beat tournament favorites England in a rainy Super 12 game but couldn’t register another victory in Group 1 and finished with just three points in five matches.
Paceman Josh Small scored a hat-trick on Friday, but it wasn’t enough to avoid a 35-point loss to New Zealand in the Adelaide Oval.
“There have been a few moments in recent games where you wondered if, but at the same time we’re still a bit far from those top teams,” Balbirnie said in his assessment of their performance in the tournament.
“We need to keep improving and playing cricket regularly against them so that we can improve and expand our squad as much as possible.
“We have guys who are ready to come whenever they get the chance.”
“At the start of the tournament, I said reaching the Super 12 would be a bonus. That’s our goal. It will be considered a success.
“We played some really good cricket, and it’s just a shame we couldn’t create something really special.”
It was yet another improvement for the team, which was unable to make the Super 12 last year.
Balbirnie said hard work and a change of mindset helped them grow better, a trend they want to continue.
“We’re by no means the finished article, but we’re definitely a better team than 12 months ago, and that’s all you can ask for,” the opener said.
“Hopefully in a month we will be even better than we are now.”
Qualifiers Ireland sent shockwaves when they beat tournament favorites England in a rainy Super 12 game but couldn’t register another victory in Group 1 and finished with just three points in five matches.
Paceman Josh Small scored a hat-trick on Friday, but it wasn’t enough to avoid a 35-point loss to New Zealand in the Adelaide Oval.
“There have been a few moments in recent games where you wondered if, but at the same time we’re still a bit far from those top teams,” Balbirnie said in his assessment of their performance in the tournament.
“We need to keep improving and playing cricket regularly against them so that we can improve and expand our squad as much as possible.
“We have guys who are ready to come whenever they get the chance.”
“At the start of the tournament, I said reaching the Super 12 would be a bonus. That’s our goal. It will be considered a success.
“We played some really good cricket, and it’s just a shame we couldn’t create something really special.”
It was yet another improvement for the team, which was unable to make the Super 12 last year.
Balbirnie said hard work and a change of mindset helped them grow better, a trend they want to continue.
“We’re by no means the finished article, but we’re definitely a better team than 12 months ago, and that’s all you can ask for,” the opener said.
“Hopefully in a month we will be even better than we are now.”
