MATCH STORY
Follow UsWe have seen a left-hander named Nicholas from the Caribbean Islands using the long handle and smashing bowlers all around the park many times before. West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran has made quite a name for himself batting in the middle-order, tonking boundaries for fun.
Now, Nicholas Kirton is nowhere near Pooran’s level but the 26-year-old is surely making a name for himself in the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies. Playing for Canada, the left-handed batter has registered scores of 51 off 31 and 49 off 35 in two games.
Kirton’s fifty in the previous match came against the USA on a solid batting surface in Dallas, where the latter chased down a target of 195 with more than two overs to spare. However, what Kirton had in front of him today was a two-paced New York pitch.
We are talking about the same venue where we didn’t witness a 100-plus score in the first two games. Batting, or rather run-scoring to be more precise, hasn’t been easy in New York. Some of the deliveries have kept low, while some have bounced more than expected.
On June 7 (Friday), the surface was once again assisting the fast bowlers and Canada were 43/3 in seven overs when Kirton walked out to bat in the middle. That soon became 53/4, with all of Canada’s top-four batters back in the hut inside 10 overs.
The onus was now on Kirton to bat as long as possible and ensure Canada got close to that 120-run mark. The left-hander found an able ally in Shreyas Movva (36-ball 37) and the two put on 75 runs for the fifth wicket. While Movva was more sedate with his approach, Kirton didn’t shy away from playing his shots whenever he had the chance.
Kirton got going with an authoritative pull shot off Barry McCarthy but soon started focusing on ones and twos. His first four came in the eighth over but the 26-year-old didn’t hit a single boundary in the next seven overs. Even when the boundaries weren’t coming, Kirton scored 17 off 18 in that seven-over period.
Even with the surface misbehaving, Kirton looked in control and knew exactly what to do. Canada were 92/4 at the end of 15 overs and that’s when he decided to take the attack to Craig Young who was the best bowler for Ireland till the end of the 15th over.
Kirton then smoked Young down the ground for a maximum and then guided one past the fine leg region to take Canada past the 100-run mark. Young once again made the mistake of going full and Kirton ended the over with one six over long-off.
Kirton missed out on a half-century by just one run, falling to Barry McCarthy in the penultimate over, but made sure Canada got to a par score. If you look at Kirton’s wagon wheel in this World Cup, you would see he loves hitting in front of him and that’s the exact reason why he was successful on the spicy New York surface.
“Pitch was a bit up and down but the ball was coming through okay. No, I would've liked to finish the innings (happy with his performance?). Before innings started we spoke about getting to 130-140 and anything else would be a bonus,” he said after Canada posted a total of 137, which proved to be more than enough for Ireland.
"Just tried to get in, get the pace of the wicket. Honestly it wasn't that bad. There was an area in the middle of the wicket that was a bit up and down, but otherwise it was a good wicket to bat on. Very good to get our first win in the World Cup."
Kirton, who was born in Barbados and played Under-19 cricket for West Indies, made his debut for Canada in 2019 and has become an integral member in the last year or two. He has also featured in the Caribbean Premier League. With his mother being born in Canada, Kirton is eligible to play for both the West Indies and Canada.
Canada might just have found a star they could build their batting line-up around.
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