Curtis Campher made history in Ireland’s opening fixture, in Group A of the Men's T20 World Cup 2021, against the Netherlands at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.
Campher took four wickets in four balls in the 10th over of the Netherlands’ innings after Pieter Seelaar won the toss and opted to bat. The batters were Colin Ackermann, Ryan ten Doeschate, Scott Edwards and Roelof van der Merwe.
He became the third male player in T20I cricket to take four in four, and the first in T20 World Cup history. Rashid Khan and Lasith Malinga achieved the feat before him, in 2019. Campher also became the second player to do a hat-trick in a T20 World Cup, after Brett Lee against Bangladesh, in the inaugural edition of the tournament, in 2007.
Campher was ably supported by Mark Adair (4-0-9-3), who finished with the most economical figures by an Irish in the T20 World Cups, and Josh Little (1-14). They bundled out the Netherlands for 106, the last wicket, of Brandon Glover, falling off the final ball of the innings, bowled by Adair.
Despite the setbacks, the Netherlands managed to reach the total largely because of Max O’Dowd. O’Dowd struck seven fours in his 47-ball 51 to revive from 51/6 before Seelaar (21) and Logan van Beek (11) chipped in with useful contributions to guide their side get past 100.
Coming to chase, Paul Stirling and Kevin O’Brien got Ireland off to a decent start, adding 27 in 23 balls before Glover got O’Brien (9) in the fourth over. No. 3 Andy Balbirnie wanted to finish things off quickly, but did not last long.
Gareth Delany (44 in 29 balls) played aggressively during his 59-run stand with Stirling before Seelaar cleaned him up in the 13th over. The contest was almost done and dusted by then. Fittingly, Campher hit the winning run with seven wickets and 29 balls to spare.
Brief scores: Netherlands 106 in 20 overs (Max O’Dowd 51; Curtis Campher 4-26) lost to Ireland 107/3 in 15.1 overs (Gareth Delany 44; Pieter Seelaar 1-14) by 7 wickets with 29 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Curtis Campher.