| Dates | 20 August – 8 September 2020 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | Cricket Ireland |
| Cricket format | Twenty20 |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin |
| Champions | Leinster Lightning (6th title) |
| Participants | 4 |
| Matches | 12 |
| Most runs | Kevin O'Brien (148) |
| Most wickets | Simi Singh (8) |
The 2020 Inter-Provincial Trophy was the eighth edition of the Inter-Provincial Trophy, a Twenty20 cricket competition played in Ireland during August and September 2020.[1][2] It was the fourth edition of the competition to be played with full Twenty20 status. Northern Knights were the defending champions.[3]
On the opening day of the tournament, Northern Knights beat North West Warriors by two runs in a match affected by the rain,[4] and Leinster Lightning defeated Munster Reds by nine wickets with twelve overs to spare.[5] Leinster Lightning won the tournament, to claim their sixth title,[6] after beating Northern Knights by five wickets in the penultimate round of matches.[7]
The final two fixtures of the tournament, scheduled to be played on 8 September 2020, were both called off a day before they were meant to be played.[8] The match between Munster Reds and Northern Knights was cancelled because of a possible COVID-19 "chain of transmission" linked back to a cancelled match in the 2020 Bob Willis Trophy in England a few days prior.[9] The other match, between North West Warriors and Leinster Lightning, was called off due to a wet outfield, meaning only half of the scheduled twelve matches finished with a result.[10]
Background
Originally the tournament was scheduled to be held from 12 June to 3 August 2020, with competition split into two halves, each branded as a T20 Festival. The first half was scheduled to be played in June, and the second half was scheduled to be played in August.[11]
On 26 March 2020, Cricket Ireland confirmed that domestic competitions would be pushed back to 28 May 2020 at the earliest, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12][13] Government restrictions prevented any cricket, including training, from starting before June 2020.[14] The Irish government announced a provisional date of 20 July 2020 for a possible restart of sporting fixtures in the country.[15] Plans of a possible start of domestic cricket in Ireland, with matches taking place during August and September, were looked at in July 2020.[16] On 22 July 2020, Cricket Ireland confirmed the revised fixtures for the tournament.[17] On 15 August 2020, all the teams confirmed their squads for the tournament.[18][19]
Points table
The following teams competed:
| Team[20] | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leinster Lightning | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 | +2.608 |
| Northern Knights | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 15 | +0.753 |
| Munster Reds | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | –4.111 |
| North West Warriors | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | –2.013 |
Fixtures
20 August 2020 Scorecard |
North West Warriors 132/6 (20 overs) |
v |
Northern Knights 52/3 (7.4 overs) |
- Northern Knights won the toss and elected to field.
- Rain during Northern Knights innings prevented any further play.
- Will Smale (North West Warriors), Ross Adair and CJ van der Walt (Northern Knights) all made their T20 debuts.
- Points: Northern Knights 4, North West Warriors 0.
20 August 2020 Scorecard |
Munster Reds 76 (19.3 overs) |
v |
Leinster Lightning 77/1 (8 overs) |
- Leinster Lightning won the toss and elected to field.
- Matthew Foster and Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin (Munster Reds) both made their T20 debuts.
- Points: Leinster Lightning 5, Munster Reds 0.
25 August 2020 Scorecard |
v |
||
- No toss.
- The match was called off due to the impact of Storm Francis.[21]
- Points: Leinster Lightning 2, Northern Knights 2.
27 August 2020 Scorecard |
Leinster Lightning 124/4 (12 overs) |
v |
North West Warriors 104/8 (12 overs) |
- North West Warriors won the toss and elected to field.
- North West Warriors were set a revised target of 129 runs from 12 overs due to rain.
- Points: Leinster Lightning 4, North West Warriors 0.
- Greg Ford (Leinster Lightning) made his T20 debut.
27 August 2020 Scorecard |
v |
||
- No toss.
- No play was possible due to rain.
- Points: Northern Knights 2, Munster Reds 2.
1 September 2020 Scorecard |
North West Warriors 115 (20 overs) |
v |
Northern Knights 119/2 (14.2 overs) |
- North West Warriors won the toss and elected to bat.
- Ryan Hunter (North West Warriors) made his T20 debut.
- Points: Northern Knights 5, North West Warriors 0.
1 September 2020 Scorecard |
Munster Reds 76/7 (13 overs) |
v |
Leinster Lightning 77/3 (9.4 overs) |
- Leinster Lightning won the toss and elected to field.
- The match was reduced to 13 overs per side due to a wet outfield.
- James Newland (Leinster Lightning) made his T20 debut.
- Points: Leinster Lightning 5, Munster Reds 0.
3 September 2020 Scorecard |
v |
||
- No toss.
- No play was possible due to rain.
- Points: Munster Reds 2, North West Warriors 2.
3 September 2020 Scorecard |
v |
||
- No toss.
- No play was possible due to rain.
- Points: Munster Reds 2, North West Warriors 2.
3 September 2020 Scorecard |
Northern Knights 128 (20 overs) |
v |
Leinster Lightning 131/5 (18.5 overs) |
- Leinster Lightning won the toss and elected to field.
- Josh Manley (Northern Knights) made his T20 debut.
- Points: Leinster Lightning 4, Northern Knights 0.
8 September 2020 Scorecard |
v |
||
- No toss.
- The match was called off on the previous day due to a COVID-19 related issue.
- Points: Munster Reds 2, Northern Knights 2.
8 September 2020 Scorecard |
v |
||
- No toss.
- The match was called off on the previous day due to a wet outfield.
- Points: North West Warriors 2, Leinster Lightning 2.
References
- ↑ "Fixtures announced for men's internationals, Inter-Provincial Series and Super 3s in 2020". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
- ↑ "Interpros to return next month". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ↑ "Knights lift T20 crown". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
- ↑ "Knights win rain-shortened encounter at Bready". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ↑ "Lightning bolt to victory over Reds in opener". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ↑ "Lightning beat Knights to clinch T20 Trophy". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
- ↑ "Leinster Lightning beat Northern Knights to claim sixth T20 Inter-Provincial series crown". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
- ↑ "Cricket Ireland cancels match as a precautionary measure". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
- ↑ "Cricket Ireland cancels interprovincial T20 over links to Northamptonshire Covid case". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
- ↑ "T20 interpro cancelled". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
- ↑ "Interpro series cut". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
- ↑ "UPDATE: Irish cricket season". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ↑ "Season pushed back". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ↑ "Update on COVID-19 and the Irish cricket season". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ↑ "Light at end of tunnel for cricket?". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ↑ "Ireland hopeful of Interprovincial season". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ↑ "Test Triangle Inter-Provincial Series and Super 50 Series fixtures released for 2020 season". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ↑ "Squads named for interpro series". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
- ↑ "Test Triangle Inter-Provincial squads announced; captains give their views". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
- ↑ "Points Table". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
- ↑ "Knights clash with Lightning called off". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 25 August 2020.