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Over the next six weeks we will be re-living six special moments in Ireland’s World Cup history as we count down to Ireland’s opening match of the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The first memorable World Cup moment for Irish cricket took place well before the team travelled to the West Indies to take part in the 2007 World Cup, when Andrew White took the wicket of Henrik Hansen in Bangor on July 7th 2005.

That wicket left Denmark 73 runs short of their target, and confirmed Ireland’s place in the 2007 World Cup.

The game was Ireland’s final group match in the 2005 ICC Trophy, and although Ireland were in a strong position heading into the match, a Denmark win could have seen the Scandinavian side qualify automatically and leave Ireland uncertain of a place in the World Cup.

With five spots at the 2007 World Cup up for grabs, the top two teams in each of the six team groups qualified automatically whilst the third and fourth place teams in each group faced play-offs for the final spot.

A winning start against the UAE, Bermuda and Uganda meant Ireland could have claimed an automatic qualifying spot with a win over the United States, who were yet to win a match, but the Irish weather washed out the entire fourth round of fixtures, meaning it would go down to the last match.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Ireland soon found themselves in trouble at 28 for 3, but Ed Joyce (60) and Peter Gillespie (40) put on 95 for the fourth wicket to put Ireland back in the match.

There was still a sense that Ireland were going to fall short of a competitive total once both Ed Joyce and Gillespie were out, but luckily there was another Joyce at the crease when Gillespie eventually fell.

Dom Joyce really turned the game in Ireland’s favour, smashing 50 from just 37 balls to help Ireland post 222 all out. His innings earned him the Man of the Match award.

With Denmark needing a big win to leapfrog Ireland in the table, there were some worries that 222 would not be enough, but any nerves were soon calmed as Paul Mooney picked up the wicket of Danish opener Rashid Ali and Trent Johnston sent skipper Carsten Pedersen back to the pavilion leaving Denmark 14-2.

From then on the Irish bowlers kept the pressure on and prevented Denmark from building any partnerships, taking wickets at regular intervals bowling Denmark out for just 149 in just 39 overs.

The game may have been over as a contest some time before the last wicket fell, and the tournament itself was still not over (Ireland went on to lose to Scotland in the final), but that didn’t stop the celebrations as White took the last Danish wicket and secured Ireland’s spot at the 2007 World Cup.

Without that day, many of the moments we’ll be re-living as we count down to the 2015 World Cup wouldn’t have happened, which is why it features first on our World Cup countdown. We’ll bring you our second memorable moment next week as we mark five weeks to go until Ireland’s opening match against the West Indies.


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