USA vs Ireland
June 14, Lauderhill, 10.30am local time
Big picture – Weather likely to end Ireland and Pakistan’s hopes
Two days ago, Nepal vs Sri Lanka was washed out before there could be a toss. Friday’s morning fixture between USA and Ireland will likely meet the same fate. If that happens, USA can celebrate; a Super Eight berth will be theirs along with India from Group A. It will mean a dagger through Pakistani hearts; it will seem inevitable after they opened their campaign with back-to-back losses to USA and India.
But instead of plotting and planning, they will likely be scouring weather forecasts, and that may not change anything. It’s that bleak.
USA LWWLW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Ireland LLWWW
In the spotlight – Monank Patel and Paul Stirling
He can make heads turn with his robust approach in the powerplay, but Paul Stirling has endured a lean run lately, dismissed for 2 and 9 in Ireland’s first two games. His highest score in seven T20Is since the start of May is 36 against Netherlands. Ireland will need much more than that if they are to compete. Stirling has been a part of several giant-killing acts during the course of his career. Can he come up with another to keep the group alive, if rain allows play?
Monank is likely to come in for Shayan Jahangir for the hosts.
USA possible XI: 1 Monank Patel (capt & wk), 2 Steven Taylor, 3 Andries Gous, 4 Aaron Jones, 5 Nitish Kumar, 6 Corey Anderson, 7 Harmeet Singh, 8 Jasdeep Singh, 9 Saurabh Netravalkar, 10 Ali Khan, 11 Nosthush Kenjige/Shadley van Schalkwyk.
Conditions will probably dictate who among Ben White, the legspinner, or Craig Young, the fast bowler, play.
Ireland possible XI: 1 Paul Stirling (capt), 2 Andrew Balbirnie, 3 Lorcan Tucker (wk), 4 Harry Tector, 5 Curtis Campher, 6 George Dockrell, 7 Gareth Delany, 8 Mark Adair, 9 Barry McCarthy, 10 Josh Little, 11 Craig Young.
Heavy rain is forecast for the next three days. The pitches have mostly been under covers and that’s unlikely to change. A state of emergency has been declared in five counties, including Broward where the stadium is located. It’ll need a miracle even for the curators to simply have a look at the surface underneath.
