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11:28 PM IST, 1:58 PM Local Time: That's it. Canada beat Ireland by 12 runs. Brilliant effort from them and the celebrations begin in their camp. The players rush onto the field as they have grabbed their first win in T20 World Cups. This is only the second time that Canada have beaten a Test-playing nation. Ireland have been outplayed here. They have succumbed to the pressure and have now lost two games in a trot in the T20 World Cup 2024. And again, an associate nation has beaten a full-time member side in this edition.

Chasing 138, the Irish side got off to a cautious start. The Canadian bowlers beautifully upfront and didn’t allow the Irish openers - Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie to get away. The pressure was building and Stirling departed on 17-ball nine in the last over of the powerplay. Balbirnie (17) also departed in the very next over. Harry Tector (7) and Lorcan Tucker (10) fell in quick succession as Ireland were reeling 50/4 at the end of 10 overs.

The Irish batters failed to get going. Curtis Campher (4) and Gareth Delany (3) also failed to make an impact. George Dockrell was joined by Mark Adair and both weathered the storm. They kept ticking the scoreboard and got Ireland back on track. They put a fighting partnership of 62 for the seventh wicket.

With 17 required in the last over, Jeremy Gordon held his nerves and dismissed Adair on 34 on the second ball. Barry McCarthy could only score three of the next three balls which included a bye. Dockrell remained unbeaten on 30 but he couldn't take his side across the line as they fell short by 12 runs. Gordon and Dillon Heyliger grabbed two scalps each. Junaid Siddiqui and skipper Saad Bin Zafar also chipped in with a wicket each as they did a fine job to defend the total successfully.

Earlier, Ireland won the toss and opted to bowl first. They got off to a very good start as they dismissed both the Canadian openers Aaron Johnson (14) and Navneet Dhaliwal (6) inside the powerplay. Pargat Singh (18) got a start but failed to capitalize. It was a short stay at the crease for Dilpreet Bajwa (7) as well. Nicholas Kirton and Shreyas Movva then led the rebuilding work.

The pair of Kirton and Movva kept the Irish side at bay in the middle overs. Both played some fantastic shots and put 75 between them before Kirton fell one short of his fifty in the penultimate over. Movva scored 37 off 36 balls to take Canada to 137/7. Craig Young and Barry McCarthy picked up two wickets each but the former was on the expensive side. The Irish batters then faltered and lost the game by 12 runs.

Player of the Match: Nicholas Kirton

Nicholas Kirton (Player of the Match): "Feels very good to get over the line. We fell short in the first game but really happy with this win.

It wasn't that easy. I was trying to get in and get used to the pace of the wicket. I tried to hit through the line. I tried to stay still and it helps. The outfield was slow and we tried to run hard between the wickets. The partnership between me and Movva was good.

The win is important for us and to people back home. Our focus is next game against Pakistan. Get some rest tomorrow and back in the nets the day after and back to it.

The two spinners bowled very well. They get some purchase from the surface. The pacers also hit into the surface and it helped us. Happy to finish on the winning side. As I say, we always take it one game at a time."

Paul Stirling (Ireland Captain): "“Yeah, it was a tough loss today. We started slowly and it continued till the end.

Certainly, the total was gettable. It was fractionally above than what we have been happy to chase.

We need to improve all-around. Hopefully, we will show good game when we go to Miami and Florida. We don’t look to ahead in the future. It’s a huge game for us in the next week and we want to give something for our fans to cheer for."

Saad Bin Zafar (Canada Captain): "Definitely. A proud moment for me and the team. I think Ireland bowled well and put us under pressure. But Kirton and Movva put a solid partnership and once we got to that total, we were confident of defending it.

We wanted to go pace upfront. But the wicket got slower as the game progressed. We gambled with an extra spinner and it worked for us today. It was not easy for them to get under the ball. Both myself and Junaid bowled beautifully in the middle overs.

It’s like one game at a time. One day at a time. We want to enjoy this win and come back stronger against Pakistan.

(On crowd support) It’s important. The cricket is growing in the country and if it keeps going this way, hopefully, it will inspire the young generation to take up this sport."

That brings an end to our coverage for this game. It was pleasure bringing you all the updates from this fixture. Keep joining us for more cricketing action all around the globe. This is me, Akshay Bhide, signing off, on behalf of my co-commentator AkshayaKrishna Polya and scorer Bishal Mandal. Until next time, cheers and goodbye.