Former England captain Michael Vaughan has led the congratulations for Ireland following their stunning victory over the English at the T20 World Cup in Melbourne.
Eleven years on from their 50-over World Cup upset win over the same opponents in Bangalore Ireland recorded another momentous victoryhaving been given a helping hand by the rain at the MCG.
Captain Andy Balbirnie’s 62 off 47 balls underpinned Ireland’s 157 all out in 19.2 overs although his dismissal was the start of a collapse that saw his side lose their last seven wickets in 24 deliveries.
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But England lurched to 86 for five under heavy cloud cover and, despite a late burst of boundaries from Moeen Ali, they were still short of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern par when the heavens opened.
The delay proved terminal as England, on 105 for five when the downpour started, slipped to a five-run defeat under the DLS method, delivering a hammer blow to their hopes of reaching the semi-finals.
Vaughan was full of praise for Ireland's exploits tweeting: "Ireland have now hammered the West Indies & now beaten England..Throughly deserved."
@CricCrazyJohns agreed with those sentiments tweeting: "Ireland beat 2 time T20 World Cup champions West Indies and 1 time T20 World Champions England in this World Cup. Memorable, Irish."
Former Pakistani cricketer now commentator and analyst, Bazid Khan tweeted: "Ireland deserved winners. Most of the big teams dropping points. This super 12 is something else."
Indian cricketer, Amit Mishra, also tweeted his congratulations to the Irish on their win: "Congratulations @cricketireland on a massive victory. Hope England doesn’t say winning through DLS isn’t in the spirit of the game."
And Niall O'Brien, who was part of the victorious Ireland side who beat England back in 2011 thanks to a terrific knock by his brother Kevin, tweeted his delight at seeing the game continue to grow on these shores.
"Congrats to all involved @cricketireland on todays terrific win at the amazing MCG. These players are now seeing the rewards for playing a lot of high end cricket this home season. Once again thanks to all the teams for touring Ireland and helping to grow the game," he tweeted.
One thing is for sure though the party in Melbourne will be going on throughout the night and probably tomorrow as well for the Irish fans.
Cricket Ireland know the score as they tweeted: "For a loud group of people in Melbourne, the night is young."
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