Ireland vs New Zealand 2nd T20I: Match Preview, Head to Head, Playing XI and Broadcast Details

New Zealand completed a comprehensive victory over hosts Ireland in the T20I series opener on Monday, 18th of July, in Belfast. The visitors, for the first time in the series, weren’t made to sweat for their victory as they ran out comfortable victors by 31 runs. And the two teams will collide for the second T20I after just a day’s break on Wednesday.

The visitors were off to a brisk start on the back of veteran batter Martin Guptill’s 12-ball 24 but lost their way after losing three wickets in the powerplay. It was Glenn Phillips’s unbeaten 69 off 52 with valuable cameos from James Neesham and Michael Bracewell that propelled New Zealand to an above-par score of 173.

Ireland, on the other hand, were never in the chase since the get-go and weren’t helped with some ordinary batting by the Irish batters either. The lower order did offer some resilience, but it was a little too late as Ireland fizzled out for 142.

Pitch and conditions

The surface at Stormont is conducive to the bowlers, and like the batters said post the first T20I, 150 seems to be the par score on the surface and anything beyond that will be a tough total to chase. The teams winning the toss might want to bat first and set a decent total on the board for the opposition to the chase.

Playing Combinations for IRE vs NZ

Ireland

The Irish team was let down by their top order batters, who were in red-hot form in the recently concluded ODI series. The bowlers did bowl a few freebies and they will hope for a better bowling performance in the second T20I, which becomes a do-or-die match for the hosts. 

Predicted Playing XI: Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie (c), Gareth Delany, Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Craig Young, Joshua Little

New Zealand

Mitchell Santner, who recovered from the Covid-19 infection, marshalled his troops really well in the T20I series opener and will look to continue that in the second T20I as well. Lockie Ferguson impressed with a rapid spell that garnered him four wickets in the match.

Predicted Playing XI: Martin Guptill, Finn Allen, Dane Cleaver (wk), Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy

IRE vs NZ Head to Head

Played – 02 | Ireland – 00 | New Zealand – 02 | No Result – 0 | 

IRE vs NZ Broadcast Details

Match Timings –  8:30 PM IST

Broadcast Details

FanCode (live streaming)