T20 World Cup Match Prediction: Ireland versus The Netherlands. 3rd Match. Who Will Win?

The Netherlands and Ireland find themselves in the same group for the first stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup. They also have Sri Lanka in their group, so if things go like most expect, only one of The Netherlands or Ireland will make it out of the group and qualify for the Super 12 Stage. This means that this match is a really important one.

Who do we think will go on to win it and step a step towards the next stage? Keep reading this T20 World Cup match prediction and you will find out.

Ireland Team Preview

The Irish cricket team has not been able to show the type of improvement recently that many expected. It is now a full-member nation that can play Test cricket, but they still find themselves getting beaten by associate nations pretty regularly. Recently, they lost a T20 series to the United Arab Emirates, highlighting the fact that they struggle in spin-friendly conditions, which is exactly what they are going to encounter at the 2021 World Cup.

If Ireland are to get anywhere in this tournament, then they are going to rely heavily on their top three, which is made up of Kevin O'Brien, Andrew Balbirnie, and Paul Stirling. They lack depth, and although there are a number of promising players such as Gareth Delany, Harry Tector, George Dockrell, and Curtis Camphor in their squad, we do not see them winning Ireland plenty of matches.

The two bowlers to watch out for are Craig Young and Joshua Little. In particular, Little is really good with the new ball in his hand and can be hard to score off.

The Netherlands Team Preview

The Netherlands have grown into one of the best associate nations and they will definitely be looking to leave their mark on the T20 World Cup. The majority of the players that they have named in the squad are on the English County circuit, so are certainly not short of experience at high levels.

However, they have not played any warm-up matches in the UAE to get used to the tricky conditions, and this is something that could work to their disadvantage. Despite this, they have a very dangerous batting lineup with the likes of Colin Ackerman, Max O'Dowd, Ryan Ten Doeschate, and Stephan Myburgh. These players have the ability to get quick runs and can clear the boundary rope with ease.

Their bowling department is also pretty good, Logan van Beek, Fred Klaassen, and Timm van der Gugten are all skilled, experienced, and dangerous bowlers. Roelof van der Merve is a quality spinner with plenty of experience and he seems to raise his game when his side need him the most. They will be aware of the importance of collecting early wickets against Ireland, so will go at them very hard.

Toss Prediction

The team that wins the toss here will most likely choose to bowl first. In the recently finished 2021 IPL, we saw that the chasing team had a clear advantage at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, and both teams will definitely be aware of this fact. Thus, it would be surprising if the toss winning captain chose to bat first.

Pitch Conditions

The Abu Dhabi conditions are going to be decent for batting. The pitch does tend to slow up a tiny bit as the game progresses, but the surface is better than what we came across at the start of the IPL. A score of about 170 should be seen as achievable on this pitch by both teams, so it could be a high scoring game.

Our Match Prediction

We are going to go ahead and put our money on the Netherlands to win this game. We do not think there is that big a gap between the Dutch and the Irish when it comes to T20 cricket, and it will all come down to individual performances on the day. The Irish are favourites with the bookies to win this match, but we are going to go against the odds here and go for the Dutch to be victorious.

Our Match Prediction: