BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa Ireland’s Under-19 Men made history by defeating New Zealand by 41 runs (DLS) in their final game of the 2024 ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup despite playing in adverse weather conditions. This resulted in Ireland finishing in eighth place overall, which is a record for the team.
The triumph, which marked the first-ever victory at any level by an Irish team over a New Zealand squad, concluded a competition that guarantees Ireland’s entry into the competition in 2026.
The Irish team, which elected to bat first, amassed a respectable score of 267-9 from their 50 overs. Following an equally impressive batting performance, the bowling team, under the direction of Olly Riley (3-20), put in an equally diligent bowling performance. However, nearby lightning stopped play, and New Zealand was behind the DLS par score when the game never resumed.
Ireland had made one change to their lineup from their Tuesday loss to Pakistan prior to the match, substituting Daniel Forkin for Carson McCullough. Within ten overs, both openers, Ryan Hunter (24) and Jordan Neill (19), returned to the pavilion following an encouraging start. The Irish batsmen have lost wickets in bunches far too frequently in this competition, but tonight was to be different as Player of the Match Kian Hilton (72) and Gavin Roulston (82) put up a solid 129 runs in the third wicket stand.
When the score was 181-2 in the 36th over, New Zealand struck back, first removing Hilton with a reflex catch and being bowled by Robbie Foulkes. Four more wickets went in the next five overs, most of them to left-handed medium-fast pacer Ewald Schreuder.
Fearing that a collapse would not honor the foundation set by the preceding batters, Bready left-hander Roulston increased his score while watching from the non-striker’s side. His next 31 runs came from 21 balls after he reached his half-century after 81 balls. At one point, his knock looked like it might take the game away from New Zealand, but in the final over, Roulston holed out at deep midwicket, his highest total as an Under-19 player. Shortly later, Ireland’s innings came to an end with 268 points, New Zealand’s objective.
Riley struck with the opening ball of the eighth over in response, and Hilton’s superb diving catch at backward point allowed Riley to remove Luke Watson from the game. Early on, with the scoreboard putting pressure on New Zealand, Foulkes and JJ Nelson combined for 46 runs before Ireland got three wickets in eight overs to seize the upper hand.
With the fast hands of Hunter behind the stumps, Harry Dyer returned to the attack and removed Snehith Reddy (11) to leave New Zealand reeling at 130–5. At that moment, play was halted due to potentially hazardous lightning in the neighborhood of Manguang Oval, which raised concerns for the umpires’ safety. After nearly 90 minutes of delay, the umpires called off the game, and Ireland celebrated a historic victory.
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