New Zealand will be heading to Scotland for two T20Is and a solitary ODI against the hosts. The T20I series opener is scheduled to commence on the 27th of July, Wednesday.  

The Kiwis diminished their disappointing whitewash in the Test series against England in June by completing a whitewash of their own in the ODIs and T20Is in the recently concluded tour of Ireland. Michael Bracewell emerged as the find of the series. After smashing a century in the ODI series, the all-rounder recorded a hat-trick in the T20I series.

Scotland, on the other hand, who had an abysmal T20 World Cup last year in UAE, has been rocked by the racism scandal on the board just days before the series. The Cricket Scotland board was forced to resign after an investigation by SportScotland confirmed institutional racism in Cricket Scotland following allegations from two former Scotland international cricketers in an interview in 2021.

SportScotland has now taken over the reins of Cricket Scotland following the departure of its original members and will be in charge of the proceeding until October next year. The ICC has backed the new regime and hopes for a more diverse and inclusive environment in Scotland Cricket.

When and where to watch the England vs South Africa T20I matches in India?

The two T20I matches and the one-off ODI will all be hosted by the Grange Cricket Club in Edinburgh. The tour will commence with the T20I series, with the first match scheduled on the 27th of July, Wednesday, commencing at 7 PM IST, and the second T20I on the 29th kicking off at the same time. The tour will conclude with the ODI on the 31st of this month, commencing at 3:30 PM IST. The matches can be live streamed on the FanCode App.

New Zealand’s tour of Scotland

Scotland T20I squad

Richie Berrington (C), Mark Watt, Craig Wallace (wk), Hamza Tahir, Chris Sole, Safyaan Sharif, Adrian Neill, George Munsey, Christopher McBride, Gavin Main, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Michael Jones, Ollie Hairs, Chris Greaves, Alasdair Evans, Matthew Cross (wk).

Scotland ODI squad

Richie Berrington (C), Mark Watt, Craig Wallace (wk), Hamza Tahir, Chris Sole, Safyaan Sharif, Adrian Neill, George Munsey, Christopher McBride, Gavin Main, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Michael Jones, Ollie Hairs, Chris Greaves, Alasdair Evans, Matthew Cross (wk), Kyle Coetzer.

New Zealand squad (T20Is & ODI)

Mitchell Santner (C), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Dane Cleaver (wk), Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Michael Rippon.

After having a successful outing against Ireland recently, New Zealand will now take on the Netherlands and Scotland in white-ball games. Talking about the New Zealand tour of Scotland, the visitors will take on the home side in three limited-over matches.

At first, both teams will take on each other in a two-match T20I series starting on July 27 (Wednesday) and the second T20I encounter will be played on July 29 (Friday). After the T20I series is done and dusted, both teams will square off in a one-off ODI match to be played on July 31 (Sunday). All the matches will be played at the Grange Cricket Club in Edinburgh.

The Kiwi side played excellently against the Irish team as they won all the matches including the ODI and T20I encounters and they will back themselves to replicate their performance in the upcoming series against Scotland as well. Meanwhile, Scotland will be without one of their senior-most player Kyle Coetzer as the batter recently announced his retirement from T20I cricket. However, he will be available for the 50-over encounter.

Here’s all you need to know about SCO vs NZ

Squads

Scotland T20I squad

Richie Berrington (C), Mark Watt, Craig Wallace (wk), Hamza Tahir, Chris Sole, Safyaan Sharif, Adrian Neill, George Munsey, Christopher McBride, Gavin Main, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Michael Jones, Ollie Hairs, Chris Greaves, Alasdair Evans, Matthew Cross (wk).

Scotland ODI squad

Richie Berrington (C) Mark Watt, Craig Wallace (wk), Hamza Tahir, Chris Sole, Safyaan Sharif, Adrian Neill, George Munsey, Christopher McBride, Gavin Main, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Michael Jones, Ollie Hairs, Chris Greaves, Alasdair Evans, Matthew Cross (wk), Kyle Coetzer.

New Zealand squad (T20Is & ODI)

Mitchell Santner (C), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Dane Cleaver (wk), Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Michael Rippon.

Scotland vs New Zealand schedule

Broadcast Details

Live Steaming- FanCode App

New Zealand have announced their squad for the upcoming white-ball tour of the West Indies next month. Skipper Kane Williamson returns to the squad, along with many other senior players, including Tim Southee and Trent Boult.

The Kiwis have not been to the shores of the Caribbean for a bilateral series since 2014 and will see the quartet of Kane Williamson, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, and Devon Conway, who were part of the Test team against England last month, return to the white-ball set-up for the first time since the tour of India following the T20 World Cup last year.

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said that it’s an exciting challenge to take on the two-time T20 World Champions in the Caribbean and also stated the importance of managing the workload of the players in the hectic international calendar that will see his side play different formats every month in 2022.

“It’s always exciting to be heading somewhere you’ve not been in a while, and I know this group can’t wait for the challenge of taking on the West Indies in the Caribbean for Kane, Trent, Tim, and Devon; this will be the first time they have played white ball cricket for New Zealand since last year’s T20 World Cup and tour to India – so this trip will be important for them,” Gary Stead in an official release.

‘It’s been great to see these guys push their cases’, Gary Stead spoke on the emergence of new players in the white ball setup

The recently concluded white ball series against Ireland saw the Kiwis clean sweep the hosts across ODIs and T20Is without several of their key senior players. Michael Bracewell, who made a remarkable start to life in white-ball cricket on the tour of Ireland, has been retained in the squad for the tour of West Indies. The Kiwis will play three ODIs and three T20Is, spread across Barbados and Jamaica, respectively.

“We also have players such as Michael and Finn who are relatively new to the international stage but have really put their hands up for selection when given opportunities. As a selector, it’s been great to see these guys push their cases,” Stead added.

New Zealand ODI and T20I squad: Kane Williamson (captain), Finn Allen, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi and Tim Southee

New Zealand have often been termed the underdogs in ICC tournaments, the reason being their ability to get through to the knockouts with ease when most teams don’t fancy them. Despite being one of the smaller countries in terms of population and size, New Zealand has always produced some top cricketers who have grabbed a lot of fans around the world. The country has got enough talent on display, and ICC World Test Championship 2019-2021 title was a reward for their prolonged, consistent success across the world.

It is important that the New Zealand cricketers and the various moments created by the players get captured and get etched in the memories of the fans for a long time. There is no better way for it than engaging with the fans through the NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens) in the present era, and it is a massive point to cherish as New Zealand Cricket has joined hands with Rario, one of world’s biggest NFT platforms.

New Zealand Cricket signs five-year deal with Dream Sports

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has signed a five-year deal with Dream Sports, the parent company of Dream 11, to provide fan-engaging products, which include NFTs, gaming and other merchandise. The NFTs are set to be produced through the Rario Platform, and hence, the fans will be able to own some of the top cricketing moments from New Zealand cricket. Right from a sizzling yorker from Trent Boult to Kane Williamson’s backfoot drive, all will be available on the Rario platform with much more exciting things in place.

Rario have already partnered with Cricket Australia (CA) and big cricketing leagues, including Big Bash League (BBL), Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), Lanka Premier League (LPL), Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Abu Dhabi T10 League and the Legends League Cricket (LLC). It was only a matter of time till the importance of storing the moments in a digitalized setup gets recognised, and the growth of the Rario platform has proved the point already.

The fast-growing world is moving into a digital setup completely and it is important to adapt to the new business trends. Rario allows the fans to buy, sell and trade NFTs through its platform.

STORMONT – Glenn Phillips guided New Zealand to a six-wicket win over Ireland in the third T20I, hitting an unbeaten 56 off 44 balls in a successful chase of 175.

Ireland bounced back from a disappointing batting performance in the second T20I – when they were bowled out for 91 – and had New Zealand on 65-3 at one stage, but an 82-run stand between Phillips and Daryl Mitchell saw the Black Caps effectively navigate a tricky period to secure a 3-0 series victory.

Ireland batted first and Paul Stirling was immediately at his blistering best, striking a six with his second ball of the innings as he moved to 19 off 10. However, at the other end Andrew Balbirnie perished to Blair Tickner for a 16-ball 10.

But Stirling and Lorcan Tucker kept moving at a healthy rate, putting on 46 off 31 balls for the second wicket. The latter looked in good touch when taking on the left-arm spin of Mitchell Santner, showcasing his array of sweeps and some quick feet down the ground to record three consecutive boundaries.

Stirling was undone by the spin of Ish Sodhi – a bit of extra bounce caught the right-hander’s glove for a catch behind – to depart for 40 and Tucker fell for 28 off 19 in the following over to leave Ireland 81-3 in the 11th over.

New Zealand slowed the scoring as Ireland tumbled to 116-6 in the 17th over, but then came a blistering stand between Mark Adair and Curtis Campher. The pair put on 58 off just 23 deliveries, with the former smashing an astonishing four sixes and two fours in his 15-ball 37.

In response, Finn Allen raced out of the blocks for New Zealand, depositing Craig Young for 14 runs in the space of three balls. But Young had the perfect response, ending his first over with a pinpoint yorker to send Allen on his way.

Martin Guptill kept the aggression going, moving to 21 off 12, but Josh Little had Dane Cleaver pull the ball straight to Campher at deep square leg for 5 to leave New Zealand 41-2 in the fifth over.

George Dockrell had two catches dropped off two consecutive balls in his first over – Phillips was the lucky man – but it was a case of third time lucky when Guptill top-edged a sweep off the left-armer to Little at short fine-leg.

Ireland were in a strong position but Phillips and Mitchell began the rebuild, rotating the strike before 20 runs off Campher in the 15th over softened the equation.

Little dismissed Mitchell for 48 in the 17th over, taking a return catch after the right-hander top-edged a pull, but Jimmy Neesham arrived to play a blistering cameo of 23* off six to end the match and series.

Ireland v New Zealand, 3rd T20I, Stormont, 22 July 2022

Ireland 174-6 (20 overs; P Stirling 40, M Adair 37*; I Sodhi 2-27)
New Zealand 180-4 (19 overs; G Phillips 56*, D Mitchell 48; J Little 2-33)

New Zealand won by six wickets

IRE vs NZ Match Preview:

Ireland (IRE) will be hosting in-form New Zealand (NZ) in the 3rd match of the T20I series 2022 at the Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast on Friday. New Zealand won the last match by a big margin of 88 runs and sealed this three-match series on Wednesday. Wicketkeeper batter Dane Cleaver scored unbeaten 78 runs off 55 balls to guide New Zealand to 179 runs total while batting first. Then spinners Ish Sodhi and Michael Bracewell took three wickets each to bowl out the hosts on just 91 runs. For Ireland, Mark Adair scored the highest 27 runs and Joshua Little and Craig Young took two wickets each.

IRE vs NZ Match Details:

Ireland vs New Zealand, 3rd T20I

Venue: Civil Service Cricket Club, Belfast

Date & Time: 22nd July at 8:30 PM IST and 04:00 PM Local Time

Live Streaming: FanCode

IRE vs NZ, 3rd T20I, Pitch Report:

The pitch at Civil Service Cricket Club is equally helpful for both batters and bowlers in T20I games. The average first innings score here is around 165 runs and New Zealand managedthe  170-plus in first two matches here.

Injury News:

Blair Tickner will miss the series due to an injury.

Also Read: Melbourne Renegades to get first pick in BBL overseas draft for 2022-23 season

IRE vs NZ, 3rd T20I Probable Playing XIs:

Ireland

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

New  Zealand

Mark Chapman, Finn Allen, Dane Cleaver (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Michael Rippon, Mitchell Santner (c), Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson.

Top Picks for IRE vs NZ Dream11 Match:

Top Picks – Batters

Finn Allen:

The young batter scored 35 runs in the last T20I match and was in the good form in the recent ODI series with fifty in the second match.

Paul Stirling:

The star Irish batter smashed 120 runs in the last ODI match against New Zealand and scored 21 runs in the last T20I match.

Top Picks – All-Rounders

Michael Rippon:

The experienced all-rounder missed the opening two matches but is likely to get a chance in the last match. He has scored 216 runs and has taken 15 wickets in just 18 T20I matches.

Curtis Campher:

The right-handed batter has scored 43 runs in this series and has taken a wicket as well.

Top Picks – Bowlers

Joshua Little:

The 22-year-old left-arm pacer is in great form lately with 8 wickets in his last 3 matches, including a 2-wicket haul in the last match.

Lockie Ferguson:

The speedster took four wickets in the first match and added another one in the last match while conceding just 10 runs in his 2-over spell.

Top Pick – Wicketkeeper

Dane Cleaver:

The 30-year-old wicketkeeper batter finally made his debut for Blackcaps in this series and proved his worth by smashing unbeaten 78 runs in the last match.

IRE vs NZ Must Picks Dream11 Fantasy Cricket:

Suggested Playing XI No.1 for IRE vs NZ Dream11 Team for Fantasy Cricket:

Dane Cleaver, Harry Tector, Paul Stirling (vc), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Gareth Delany, Curtis Campher, Lockie Ferguson (c), Ish Sodhi, Mark Adair.

Suggested Playing XI No.2 for IRE vs NZ Dream11 Team for Fantasy Cricket:

Dane Cleaver, Lorcan Tucker, Paul Stirling, Glenn Phillips, Finn Allen (c), Michael Bracewell, Curtis Campher (vc), Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi, Mark Adair, Joshua Little.

IRE vs NZ Risky Captaincy Choices:

Andrew Balbirnie:

The Irish skipper got a good start in both the opening matches but couldn’t convert it into big scores so he will be a risky captaincy choice in this match.

Michael Bracewell:

The star all-rounder took three wickets from his only over in the last match after failing to get a chance to bowl in the first match.

Players you should avoid:

James Neesham:

The experienced all-rounder bowled just one over in the last match and conceded 10 runs. He is likely to get dropped for the last match.

Click here to know who will win today’s match between Ireland and New Zealand?

Note: Updated Fantasy teams and Playing XIs of every match will be provided in our Telegram channel if the information is available.

Disclaimer: This team is based on the understanding, analysis, and instinct of the author. While selecting your team, consider the points mentioned and make your own decision.

After sealing the T20I series by winning the second encounter, the visitors, New Zealand will be looking to complete a whitewash against hosts Ireland in the third and final T20I match, to be played on July 22 (Thursday). Ireland, on the other hand, will want to put on a competitive show as well.

Kiwi batter Dane Cleaver played an excellent knock of 78* and helped his team to post an above-par score during the second T20I. In reply, none of the Irish batters could leave a mark with the bat as the Blackcaps won the second encounter by a big margin of 88 runs.

IRE vs NZ Pitch Report:

Short boundaries at one side and a good batting track are not helping the bowlers at all. The new ball gets some movement, but as the game progresses, batting becomes easier. As a result, the skipper winning the toss might want to bowl first and chase the total later on.

Ireland vs New Zealand, 3rd T20I Probable Playing XI

Ireland:

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:

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, 3rd T20I Probable Top Performers

Probable best batter of the match

Paul Stirling:

Ireland opener Paul Stirling looked in good touch during the second T20I as he scored 21 runs off 15 balls. However, he was scalped by Lockie Ferguson before doing further damage. Stirling will want to make a big score in the final match and help his side to win the contest.

Probable best bowler of the match

Jacob Duffy:

Kiwi pacer Jacob Duffy had an excellent outing during the second T20I as the right-arm pacer scalped two crucial wickets and gave away just 20 runs in his three overs. Duffy will want to continue his good form in the final encounter as well.

Today’s Match Prediction: Chasing team to win the match

Click here to make your Best Dream11 Team for IRE vs NZ

Disclaimer: This prediction is based on the understanding, analysis, and instinct of the author. While making your prediction, consider the points mentioned, and make your own decision.

Former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris reckons that Shardul Thakur would have to fight for his place in the Indian team due to the emergence of Hardik Pandya. Styris feels that Thakur has the ability to hit boundaries, play some match-winning innings and also close out an innings with a finishing touch.

However, the former Kiwi all-rounder feels that Hardik has an edge over Thakur because the former is a genuine all-rounder. And Styris believes that Thakur is not as good as Pandya, adding that Thakur is fighting for a backup spot. Pandya is currently enjoying a great run of form and also won the Player-of-the-Series award in the recently-concluded three-match ODI series of the England tour.

“That’s the one thing he has at his advantage is the fact that he bats, and we’ve seen him play many match-winning innings for India usually in the longer versions of the game,” said Styris on the SPORTS18 show ‘SPORTS OVER THE TOP’. 

Shardul Thakur fighting for a backup spot: Styris

“That’s the one thing he has at his advantage is the fact that he bats, and we’ve seen him play many match-winning innings for India usually in the longer versions of the game. But he does possess that ability to hit boundaries, close out innings or put the final touches, the cherry on the top if you like is one thing that he does have to his advantage,” said the 47-year-old.

“The downside is the emergence of Hardik Pandya as a genuine all-rounder. Do you need two of those style of players? Because Shardul Thakur isn’t as good as Hardik Pandya. I don’t believe he is an all-rounder. So maybe he’s fighting for a backup spot rather than one of those players to play as a front liner,” added Styris.

Pandya was the captain of Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 and guided the team to the title in their debut season. He was also the Player of the Match in the final against Rajasthan Royals (RR) for his all-round performance, picking up three wickets and scoring 34 runs.

In the recently concluded ODI series against England, Pandya scored 100 runs in two innings and also picked up six wickets. India went on to win the series 2-1, which was their first ODI series win in England since 2014.

The women’s cricket action is set to be back with the Commonwealth Games 2022 getting underway on the 28th of July. The top eight teams will clash for a gold medal at the tournament that will be played in the T20 format and the teams have been divided into two groups with four teams in each group.

Australia Women, Barbados Women, India Women and Pakistan Women have been categorised into Group A while England Women, New Zealand Women, South Africa Women and Sri Lanka Women have been categorised in Group B. Harmanpreet Kaur will lead Team India while Smriti Mandhana is her deputy.

The matches will commence with the first game between Australia and India on July 29 at the Edgbaston ground in Birmingham while Barbados and Pakistan will take on each other in the second game of the day. The gold medal match will take place on August 7.

Here’s all you need to know about the tournament:

Commonwealth Games 2022

Squads

India Women: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Taniya Bhatia (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav.

Pakistan Women: Bismah Maroof (c), Muneeba Ali (wk), Anam Amin, Aiman Anwer, Diana Baig, Nida Dar, Gull Feroza (wk), Tuba Hassan, Kainat Imtiaz, Sadia Iqbal, Iram Javed, Ayesha Naseem, Aliya Riaz, Fatima Sana, Omaima Sohail.

Australia Women: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Amanda-Jade Wellington.

England Women: Heather Knight (c), Nat Sciver (vc), Maia Bouchier, Katherine Brunt, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Bryony Smith, Issy Wong, Danni Wyatt.

Barbados Women: Hayley Matthews (c), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shanika Bruce, Shai Carrington, Shaunte Carrington, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Keila Elliott, Trishan Holder, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Alisa Scantlebury, Shakera Selman, Tiffany Thorpe, Aaliyah Williams.

New Zealand Women: Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Izzy Gaze, Claudia Green, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Hayley Jensen, Fran Jonas, Amelia Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Jess McFadyen, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu.

South Africa Women: Suné Luus (c), Anneke Bosch, Trisha Chetty, Lara Goodall, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Nadine de Klerk, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Mignon du Preez, Tumi Sekhukhune, Shabnim Ismail, Chloe Tryon, Laura Wolvaardt.

Sri Lanka Women: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Nilakshi de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Vishmi Gunaratne, Ama Kanchana, Achini Kulasuriya, Sugandika Kumari, Hasini Perera, Udeshika Prabodhani, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Inoka Ranaweera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Anushka Sanjeewani, Malsha Shehani, Rashmi Silva.

Schedule (All timings in IST)

July 29, Friday

Australia Women vs India Women, 4:30 pm

Barbados Women vs Pakistan Women, 11:30 pm

July 30, Saturday

New Zealand Women vs South Africa Women, 4:30 pm

England Women vs Sri Lanka Women, 11:30 pm

July 31, Sunday

India Women vs Pakistan Women, 4:30 pm

Australia Women vs Barbados Women, 11:30 pm

August 2, Tuesday

England Women vs South Africa Women, 4:30 pm

New Zealand Women vs Sri Lanka Women, 11:30 pm

August 3, Wednesday

Australia Women vs Pakistan Women, 4:30 pm

Barbados Women vs India Women, 11:30 pm

August 4, Thursday

South Africa Women vs Sri Lanka Women, 4:30 pm

England Women vs New Zealand Women, 11:30 pm

August 6, Saturday

1st semi-final, 4:30 pm

2nd semi-final, 11:30 pm

August 7, Sunday

Bronze medal match, 2:30 pm

Gold medal match, 10:30 pm

Live Streaming and Broadcasting details

Sony Sports network will broadcast the cricket matches of the Commonwealth Games 2022 live on television. Live streaming will be available on the SonyLIV app.

Despite defeats in the first two games of the three-match T20 International series against New Zealand, wicket-keeper Lorcan Tucker believes that learnings taken from these games will stand to this Irish team as they go forward into the T20 World Cup in October.

Tucker believes that the team are on the right track if they stay focused on the process, and is hopeful that the team can pull off a victory in the final T20I on Friday in Stormont.

Speaking ahead of the final game in the series Tucker said: “New Zealand have shown us some areas where we can improve as well as highlighting some of their own strengths. It’s important for us to look at what high-quality opposition do in certain scenarios. Their clarity and execution of skills can offer us new ideas and ways of playing.

“Results-wise, it’s been a bit disappointing. New Zealand have played some good cricket and we haven’t performed as well as we would have liked. We are trying to build a method that suits our style of play, and these things can take time to get right. Every game is an opportunity for us to improve so we’ll be looking to do that in the third game on Friday.”

What do you think the team can do differently to hopefully get a result on Friday?

“We’ve shown already what we can do in the game against India a few weeks ago. We want to continue in this vein of playing positive cricket and taking the opposition on. As a team, we think that if we can collectively do this, it’ll serve us well into the future.”

These games are very important in the context of the T20 World Cup later in the year. How important are results at this stage in that process? Is it just a case of battling away and figuring out what works best for the team going forward?

“Results are always important and are great motivators for performance. That’s not to say that they are the be all and end all. As a team, we believe that if the method and process is developed in the right way, the results will look after themselves.”

IRELAND MEN’S ODI SQUAD

Andrew Balbirnie (Captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Fionn Hand, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.

FIXTURE SCHEDULE

T20I series:

Friday 22 July: Ireland v New Zealand, 3rd T20I (Stormont; start time 4pm)

The game is fully sold-out.

BROADCAST DETAILS

In Republic of Ireland and the UK, matches will be shown on BT Sport as follows:

3rd T20 – BT Sport 3

For the rest of the world, the broadcast details are:

New Zealand: Spark Sport
India: FanCode
Sub Saharan Africa: SuperSport
Caribbean: Flow Sports
MENA: Etisalat
South East Asia: Eleven
US: Willow