Ireland qualify for Super Eights
Ireland's O'Brien brothers carried their country past Bangladesh to the Super Eights stage of the World Twenty20 on Monday.
Kevin and Niall hit 79 runs between them at Trent Bridge as Ireland passed 137 for eight, with 10 balls and six wickets to spare, inflicting Bangladesh's second defeat in three days and sending the Tigers out of the tournament.
For Ireland, it was famous confirmation of the superiority they demonstrated over these same Test-playing opponents in a 74-run win at the World Cup in the Caribbean two years ago.
They have since come up short in a three-match one-day international series in Dhaka - but with eight of the class of 2007 still staffing this team, there could be no argument that Ireland had again deserved their victory on the big stage.
William Porterfield's men restricted Bangladesh's strokemakers thanks largely to the efforts of his predecessor as captain Trent Johnston, who took three top-order wickets for 20 runs after Ireland had chosen to bowl first on a cloudy afternoon.
Set a target which always looked feasible, Ireland were not always on course with the bat. But the impetus provided by O'Brien the elder at number three, and then reignited by brother Kevin - from a tricky situation at 89 for four in the 15th over - got them home with unexpected comfort.
O'Brien dominated a 55-run second-wicket stand with his captain, hitting three leg-side sixes from five balls of one Mortaza over.
It was a significant blow therefore when O'Brien holed out at long-off from the left-arm spin of Shakib al Hasan - and after Porterfield had poked a catch back to Abdur Razzak and Gary Wilson was caught at extra-cover, the Ireland chase looked in trouble.
A second O'Brien made a mockery of that suggestion, though, with some wonderfully clean striking which brought him four fours and two sixes from only 17 balls.
It was a fitting culmination too that, on the ground where the 25-year-old all-rounder has been on trial for Nottinghamshire this summer, he should conclude the match in style - by hitting Rubel Hossain clear over mid-off for the winning boundary.
