2021 Inter-Provincial Trophy

2021 Inter-Provincial Trophy
Dates18 June – 19 September 2021
Administrator(s)Cricket Ireland
Cricket formatTwenty20
Tournament format(s)Round-robin
ChampionsNorth West Warriors (2nd title)
Participants4
Matches18
Most runsMatt Ford (220)
Most wicketsBen White (17)
← 2020
2022 →

The 2021 Inter-Provincial Trophy was the ninth edition of the Inter-Provincial Trophy, a Twenty20 cricket competition that was played in Ireland in 2021.[1] It was the fifth edition of the competition to be played with full Twenty20 status. The tournament was played as a series of three-day festivals between four teams.[2][3] On 25 March 2021, Cricket Ireland confirmed the fixtures for the tournament.[4] On 9 April 2021, Cricket Ireland announced the revised fixtures for the tournament,[5] with number of matches increased from 12 to 18.[6] Leinster Lightning were the defending champions.[7]

After the first round of matches, North West Warriors were leading the competition with two wins from their three games.[8] Defending champions Leinster Lightning suffered two defeats from their three matches.[9][10] It was the first time that Leinster Lightning had lost back-to-back matches in the Inter-Provincial competition.[11] In the second round of matches, Leinster Lightning won two of their three matches,[12] putting them in second place behind North West Warriors.[13] In the third and final round of matches, the first three games were all abandoned due to the weather.[14][15] In the last match of the tournament, North West Warriors beat Leinster Lightning by eight wickets to win their second title.[16][17]

  1. ^ "No Irish first-class cricket in 2021 as board revamp domestic structure". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  2. ^ "New Inter-Provincial Series structure unveiled; new coaching hubs and emerging competition created". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Inter-Provincial Series: Revamp to include Munster Reds joining 50-over Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Inter-Provincial Series 2021 fixture dates confirmed". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Cricket Ireland revised Inter-Provincial Series 2021 fixture schedule released". Cricket World. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  6. ^ "Revised Inter-Provincial Series 2021 fixture schedule released". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Lightning beat Knights to clinch T20 Trophy". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Ben White spins Knights to victory, but the Warriors top the table after the first T20 Festival week". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Knights and Munster bounce back". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Young guns down Leinster". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Ireland IP20: Two wins put North-West on top". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Leinster Lightning return to form in win over Warriors, Knights beat Reds in high-scoring affair". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  13. ^ "Dockrell keeps Lightning in title contention". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  14. ^ "T20 Trophy still up for grabs after first day washout". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 19 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  15. ^ "Delany and Ford star as Munster beat Warriors". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 20 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  16. ^ "Warriors beat Lightning to secure T20 Trophy". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 20 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  17. ^ "Ireland domestic cricket continues before international action". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 24 September 2021.