Cricket Ireland's absolute gold two-word reply to Ravi Bopara's 'Only Pakistan can challenge England' tweet goes viral
Cricket Ireland had an epic response to Ravi Bopara's claim that the only team that can challenge England in the T20 World Cup, whom the side faces in the final of the tournament.
England produced a remarkable outing in the T20 World Cup semi-final on Thursday against India, thrashing the side by 10 wickets in a one-sided encounter in Adelaide. After restricting the side to 168/6 in 20 overs, England, riding on unbeaten half-century knocks by openers Alex Hales and Jos Buttler, chased down the target with 24 balls to spare. England will now face Pakistan in the final of the tournament on Sunday, where both sides will be eyeing a second T20 World Cup title.
Ahead of the tournament, England star Ravi Bopara lauded the side for its impressive campaign so far, and even claimed that the only side that can stop England in the tournament is Pakistan.
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“Great performance and display of power and ruthlessness from England. There’s only one team that can actually challenge England and that is Pakistan. Otherwise If England could enter a 2ndXI in the #T20Iworldcup2022 it would be a England v England2XI Final. #fact #milesahead,” Bopara wrote on his official Twitter account.
England, however, had faced a shock defeat to Ireland in the T20 World Cup earlier in the Super 12 stage; in a rain-hit match in Melbourne, England fell short by five runs against Ireland. Following Bopara's tweet, Ireland had an epic two-word reply.
Ireland, however, failed to progress to the knock-out stage of the tournament. It was their sole win in the Super 12 stage as Ireland lost three matches (to New Zealand, Australia, and Sri Lanka), while their game against Afghanistan was washed out. They finished fifth in their group with three points.
Earlier, Pakistan had defeated New Zealand in the first semi-final of the tournament to book a berth in the titular clash at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. While England had lifted their only T20 World Cup title in 2010, Pakistan, under the captaincy of Younus Khan, had won the trophy in 2009.