SL vs IRE | Twitter reacts to bemused Irish squadron after DRS denies them wicket by barest of margins

Ireland put up an exhibition of spin bowling in their 2026 T20 World Cup opener against Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday as they recovered from a powerplay score of 50/1 to concede just 54 in the next 10 overs, taking three wickets in the process. They nearly added a fourth to their tally through George Dockrell, only for the veteran to be denied by a barely believable DRS verdict.

The leg-spinner found himself up against the settled but sluggish Kusal Mendis in the 14th over and on the third ball, Dockrell went full and quick to limit his counterpart's scoring options. Mendis opted for the sweep as a counter but put his feet to close to the Kookaburra and missed it all hands up, as the Kookaburra snuck under his willow and struck him on the front pad evoking a loud shout from the Irish contingent. Umpire Ahsan Raza did not take long to raise his finger leading to loud celebrations amongst the Men in Green. However, Mendis was even quicker to opt for a review, suggesting perhaps he got some bat or glove on it but Ultra Edge was quick to dispel any such notions. The Irish waited patiently for the Hawk-Eye to show up, and once it did the first blow as in their favour with the ball pitching in line. However, Dockrell's angle into the right-hander from over the wicket meant the impact was just about umpire's call, and to the dismay of Ireland the ball had to travel far enough that it ended up missing the stumps by mere millimetres. 

Gasps and wry smiles spread like contagion amongst the Ireland players, and Twitterati was no different.

Lucky!

50!

Hattrick chance!

Lol!

Half century!

Fifty

Hilarious!

Poor fielding!

hah!

Yeah