The Ireland men’s national cricket team take on the Netherlands in their 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup tournament opener on Monday morning at 11 am.
Graham Ford’s side comes into the tournament after warm-up wins over Papua New Guinea and Bangladesh.
Captain Andrew Balbirnie will lead Ireland out for their sixth-straight appearance at the T20 World Cup as the side look to do better than their last time out in 2016, where they finished winless and the second-worst team in the tournament.
The Netherlands are not as prepared for a T20 tournament as Ireland, with their last game in this format was the third of a series against Nepal in April.
The team coached by Ryan Campbell will play their first match since a four-wicket win over thier opponents today in a One Day International on June 7.
The Dutch have won seven out of the last eleven meetings with Ireland in T20s and will be in search of an eighth in twelve this morning.
This includes a 21-run victory in the semi-final of the 2019 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier.
Yet, the team sit five below Ireland in the T20I rankings in 17th.
The pair are in Group A with Namibia and Sri Lanka, with all four sides vying for a spot in the Super 12 stage of the World Cup.
Scotland and Oman picked up wins in their opening matches on Sunday and Ireland will aim to become the third side in the win column.
Teams
Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (C), Mark Adair, Gareth Delany, Joshua Little, Kevin O’Brien, Simi Singh, Harry Tector, Benjamin White, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine, Neil Rock, Paul Stirling, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.
Netherlands: Pieter Seelaar (C), Colin Ackermann, Ben Cooper, Scott Edwards, Fred Klaassen, Max O’Dowd, Logan Van Beek, Roelof Van Der Merwe, Philippe Boissevain, Bas De Leede, Brandon Glover, Stephan Myburgh, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Timm Van Der Gugten, Paul Van Meekeren.
Where To Watch
The match will be available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket. You can keep track of the live score on the ICC website and Cricket Ireland will provide Twitter updates throughout the match.
