T20 World Cup: 'That's why you play' - Ireland's George Dockrell relishes Scotland win
- Published
Ireland duo complete thrilling win over Scotland at T20 World Cup
George Dockrell says embracing the pressure of the situation was key to his match-winning partnership with Curtis Campher that saw Ireland beat Scotland to keep their T20 World Cup campaign alive in Hobart.
The pair shared a stand of 119 to propel Ireland to a six-wicket win.
The victory means Ireland could still advance to the Super 12s with a win over West Indies on Friday.
"It's a lot of pressure but that's why you play these games," Dockrell said.
"We were backing ourselves. We knew we had to come here today to win."
Dockrell arrived at the crease in the 10th over with Ireland at 61-4, and the prospect of a second disappointing T20 World Cup group stage exit in as many years appearing increasingly likely.
However the Dubliner, who made 39 off 27 balls, played his part in a stunning partnership that breathed life into Ireland's campaign.
Campher, who also scored the most runs (26) in Ireland's limp opening defeat by Zimbabwe on Monday, ended on an unbeaten 72 from 32 deliveries to lead his side's charge to their highest successful chase at a T20 World Cup.
"It's incredible," Dockrell reflected.
"I suppose that's what you play for, to be playing at a World Cup and watching a guy do what he [Campher] did, that kind of knock to take the game away from a team, that's kind of what you strive for.
"I guess we had that little period at the start where we needed to work through and take a couple of risks but then get the reward towards the end.
"By the end, Curtis hit almost every ball for four to finish off the game there. It's fantastic to watch. Delighted to have been on the other end, probably the best seat for it."
The result means Ireland join Scotland on two points from two games in Group B, but remain behind them in the table due to Scotland's superior run rate.
They are looking to avoid a repeat of last year's World Cup, when defeats in their final two group games saw them miss out on a place in the next stage of the competition.
Since then, South African Heinrich Malan has taken over as head coach and has been tasked with improving Ireland's results in international cricket's shortest format.
"We've probably spoken ourselves about it the last while about how we wanted to play better in T20 World Cups," Dockrell admitted.
"[In] ODI cricket, we've had some success over the last while, but T20s we probably have underperformed. So we're aware of that as a group.
"Heinrich coming on board, in the process we've played a lot better in T20 cricket. It's still a process that's ongoing, and we're still learning from it all at the moment."