ABU DHABI // Trent Johnston’s goodbye may not match that of Sachin Tendulkar’s, but Ireland may miss him as much as India will Tendulkar.
This was Johnston’s last one-day match for Ireland and he will retire completely after an Intercontinental Cup four-day game in December.
Last night, the 39-year-old stepped up with a starring role as Ireland retained their World Twenty 20 Qualifier title, defeating Afghanistan comfortably by 68 runs.
Reprising his pinch-hitting role from Friday’s semi-final against the UAE, Johnston first belted 62 off just 32 deliveries, before chipping in with three wickets in a man-of-the-final performance. In doing so he became just the third associate player to make a fifty and take three wickets in a T20 (after Ryan ten Deoschate and Samiullah Shenwari).
It was typical of the man to play down his own role. “Yesterday took a little bit out of me, that’s why I am hanging them up,” he joked later. “I can’t even do two T20s in a row. It’s too much. But it’s been great. It’s been a massive team effort this whole series.
“I think it shows with our guys not winning the man of the tournament that we’re not a one-man team. Someone fails, someone else steps up to the plate and we’ve done that consistently through the last 6-7 years. It’s a helluva team we’ve got in that dressing room.”
That magnificent farewell underwrote the win and wrapped up a third Irish triumph in the event since 2008 (when they shared the title with the Netherlands), reaffirming their status as the best all-round side in the division.
It was an awesome performance on a maddening evening in Abu Dhabi, adorned by a shower of fours and sixes unseen through the tournament: Ireland’s 226 was the highest total of the tournament; there were 19 sixes in the match and the aggregate of 382 runs was the highest by two associate sides in a T20.
Paul Stirling’s 41-ball 74 had set the tone; along with the captain William Porterfield, the pair burst into Afghanistan’s attack on a pitch that might have been transported from one of the IPL’s more charitable grounds. After the PowerPlay (PP) Ireland were already 82 for one, their highest PP score in T20s.
In the ninth over the 100 was already up. Every time it seemed the pace could not be maintained and wickets fell, it was and Johnston was the key. He drove, sliced and hoicked his way to a first-ever T20 fifty, quipping afterwards that he had been telling the team management to move him up the order for the last seven years.
Ireland were not quite so awesome in the field, though it will not matter in the immediate aftermath. And if they are the best associate side, Afghanistan are not far behind. This was the third consecutive time the pair appeared in this final and Afghanistan’s spirit may be unmatched.
They set off in pursuit like men obsessed: Mohammad Shahzad began the chase with one of the biggest sixes of the night and followed it with consecutive boundaries. He did not run a single run in his 38, all boundaries.
Though they lost both Nawroz Mangal and Shahzad, they continued undaunted, on 74 for two after the PowerPlay. But the sheer scale of the chase was always going to catch up with them. George Cockrell, who had not even bowled in the semi-final, began the slide and though boundaries kept coming, wickets were soon falling regularly. Twice, two wickets fell in two balls, poleaxing the response.
“They played very well today on a wicket that was great for batting,” the Afghan captain Mohammad Nabi said. “Once they had put up such a big total it put pressure on us. It wasn’t that difficult because we also had a great start, but we lost early wickets and that put us under pressure. Because the target was so high, we had to keep going for it and we kept losing wickets doing so.”
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
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