Irish hero O'Brien hails greatest innings

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BANGALORE: Batting hero Kevin O'Brien Wednesday hailed the greatest innings of his life after his 113 off just 63 balls propelled Ireland to a famous World Cup win over England.

O'Brien came to the crease with Ireland struggling on 106 for four chasing a mammoth 327 for eight and flayed the English attack, striking six sixes in a 50-ball century, the fastest World Cup ton of all time.

In an astonishing display of power-hitting he obliterated the previous record held by Australia's Matthew Hayden, who hit 100 off 66 balls against South Africa at St Kitts in the 2007 tournament.

"I don't think it's quite sunk in," said 26-year-old O'Brien, after another famous win to follow Ireland's shock World Cup triumph over Pakistan in 2007.

"It's probably the best innings I've ever played. I just hit the ball pretty well and got a bit of luck and things went my way. I just kept going and kept attacking.

"When we were 111-5 I said to myself we could have just pottered around and got 220 off 50 overs for eight or nine and the game would have been pretty boring to watch.

"But I just chanced my arm and said I was going to be as positive as I can and got a few away and didn't look back."

O'Brien praised his team-mates, saying they had stuck at their task in the field, restricting England towards the end of their innings.

"We restricted them to a target that we felt we could chase. We saw the game last week, England and India. It's a high-scoring ground and a great wicket."

Irish skipper William Porterfield hailed the "greatest" day for Irish cricket.

"We believed in ourselves. We had a bit of an upset the other night when we should have knocked off 200 against Bangladesh but to bounce back the way that the lads have bounced back, especially after losing a few early wickets and being 111-5, was a great effort," he said.

"It will be a good party back home but it's still only one game we've won from two.

"We've still got four games left in this tournament so we'll be looking to put in a performance like that every game and you never know from there. We've still got a great chance of qualifying for the second phase."