OTD| Kevin O’Brien hit the fastest World Cup hundred to secure a historic win against England in 2011

In this article, we will discuss OTD Kevin O’Brien hit the fastest World Cup hundred to secure a historic win against England in 2011. The rivalry between England and Ireland has been long-standing. This rivalry has produced some memorable contests on the cricket field as well. On this day, one of the most unbelievable matches between these two teams took place. England and Ireland played against each other in the group stage of the 2011 ODI World Cup. The Irish team pulled off a historic win over England courtesy of an extraordinary effort from Kevin O’Brien. 

An impressive English batting display

Andrew Strauss won the toss for England and decided to bat first in an important group-stage fixture. The opening pair of skipper Strauss and Kevin Pietersen added 91 runs for the first wicket, providing England a compact start. The early advantage was neutralized by Ireland as they dismissed both the openers in quick succession.

However, England did not have to bear a heavy loss as Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott stitched a massive partnership. Both scored half-centuries and guided England to a big first innings total. With the help of this significant partnership and a few other cameos, England posted 327 runs on the board in the first innings. For Ireland, John Mooney was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets to his name. 

The English Channel is 328 runs long

The English team was in a pole position after the first innings and they consolidated their position in the match with an early wicket in the second innings. The Irish skipper William Porterfield was dismissed on the very first ball. However, Ireland recovered from this early setback as Paul Stirling and Ed Joyce built a 62-run partnership. There was another small partnership between Niall O’Brien and Ed Joyce.

However, Ireland lost wickets in quick succession after this partnership was broken. At one point, England had reduced Ireland to 5-111. But the actual contest started from there when a determined Kevin O’Brien launched his attack. He absorbed the pressure beautifully and at the same time played his natural attacking game. O’Brien scored 113 runs off just 63 balls which became the biggest reason behind Ireland’s historic victory by 3 wickets. Ireland completed the run chase in the very last over.