Ireland lose to New Zealand by one run for third close defeat of the summer

New Zealand 360-6 (50 ovs) (Martin Guptill 115, Henry Nicholls 79; Josh Little 2-84) beat Ireland 359-9 (50 ovs) (Paul Stirling 120, Harry Tector 108; Matt Henry 4-68, Mitchell Santner 3-71) by one run. Full scorecard here.

New Zealand win the ODI series 3-0

So far this summer Ireland had lost to India by four runs and New Zealand by a solitary wicket. A first win of the campaign against a so-called bigger nation finally seemed on the cards after centuries from Paul Stirling and Harry Tector at Malahide, only for a late New Zealand fightback to leave the Irish lower order needing 10 off the final over. A dropped catch from Glen Phillips off Craig Young rolled into the mid-wicket fence to give Ireland a sniff, but ultimately a run out and a play and miss off the final delivery ensured the hosts fell short by the smallest margin possible.

In a game that close, there are always going to be countless turning points that could have swayed the result. Stirling and George Dockrell both picked out fielders marginally short of the boundary rope; Young was run out in the final over coming back for a second when a single would have left more accomplished batter Graham Hume on strike; Martin Guptill pulled off a stunning one-handed diving catch – arguably the best seen on this ground – to dismiss Gareth Delany just as he was starting to take a liking to the spin of Mitchell Santner.

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There was even a bizarre moment when Phillips, backing up a shy at the stumps at mid-wicket, tried to get the ball back to mid-on to give to the bowler. Michael Bracewell wasn’t looking and the ball trickled over the boundary rope. The ball technically wasn’t dead, meaning Ireland should have been awarded overthrows but everyone stood around looking at each other – umpires included – and play continued with no more runs added on.

Ireland head coach Heinrich Malan wasn’t overly concerned, though, despite the narrow margin of defeat, and confirmed that he wouldn’t be seeking any clarification from the officials. “Technically the ball wasn’t dead, but in the spirit of the game, it was,” he confirmed after the match.

On the flip side of the luck coin, the game could have been well and truly buried before the late drama. Phillips dropped Delany at mid-wicket before he added his quickfire 22. He also put down Tector when on 88 and then Young in that last over.

Away from the drama and chaos of another close defeat for Ireland, player of the match Guptill started things off for New Zealand, launching debutant Hume straight back into the sight screen to grab the early momentum. He went on to score his 18th ODI hundred, ending up with 115 off 126 as his partnership of 96 with Henry Nicholls (79) ensured New Zealand were largely dominant in the first innings.

Ireland were relying on mistakes for their early wickets but managed to capitalise when they came. Finn Allen pulled a hip-high attempted short ball from Josh Little straight to Dockrell at deep square while Will Young took an ill-advised single to Curtis Campher at mid-off. The YMCA all-rounder threw the stumps down to continue his remarkable run of run outs in this series – three in as many games.

Staring into a chase of 361 the early omens for Ireland were good as Stirling’s strength through the off side looked to be back to the forefront of his game as Lockie Ferguson was driven and punched for multiple boundaries in the powerplay. Skipper Andrew Balbirnie missed a straight ball to fall LBW in the second over, but Andy McBrine took a liking to Matt Henry thereafter, driving down the ground and pulling when authority when tested – granted the slow nature of the pitch on that length was a help.

The North West Warriors man departed when turning the bat face too early to nick Henry into the gully, bringing the in-form Tector to the crease. What followed was a record third-wicket partnership for Ireland in ODIs – 179 – as two men at the opposite ends of their international careers both brought up three figures.

Stirling paced his knock beautifully to reach his 13th ODI hundred off his 91st delivery. After being dismissed for four in the last game, Tector pulled, drove and reverse-lapped his way to just his second career century after the first came last Sunday.

[ Maiden century completes Harry Tector’s rise to the top of Irish cricket ]

Stirling mistimed Henry out to deep mid-wicket while Tector was bowled by a Santner quicker ball while trying to reverse sweep. In addition to Delany being sent packing in remarkable fashion by Guptill, Lorcan Tucker top-edged one straight to short fine and Dockrell was caught at long on in the penultimate over. The wicket of Ireland’s finisher was the blow that probably made New Zealand favourites heading into that over, albeit the tail nearly did the job.

Given the barriers Ireland have when playing these big nations in terms of training facilities, domestic fixtures and number of international games, there is still plenty of goodwill towards the group when they fall short of historic wins as they have done on three occasions now this summer. That said, the demand for results is starting to catch up to their improved performances.

Failing to close out three narrow defeats is not a concerning trend yet, but the expectation of just competing against these big teams is gone. It has been replaced by a desire – and a need – to win.

With New Zealand needing 20 in the final over of the first ODI and scraping home by a single run here, Ireland are as close as they ever have been to consistent wins against this calibre of opposition.

They deserve this new, heightened expectation.