Ireland’s veteran fast bowler Barry McCarthy produced one of the most unusual moments in T20 World Cup history in Colombo on Sunday, February 8. It should have been a normal 19th over of Sri Lanka’s innings in the T20 World Cup 2026 group match, but it turned into a strange and dramatic over, leaving Ireland players, fans and even Barry McCarthy himself perplexed.
Barry McCarthy’s chaotic over in the Sri Lanka vs Ireland T20 World Cup 2026 match
The over started with chaos at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. McCarthy’s very first ball was a high fulltoss which went over the shoulder of Sri Lankan batsman Kamindu Mendis. The umpire declared it a no-ball. To make matters worse, the ball went past Ireland wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker and crossed the boundary for four runs.
Also read: Team India reached Gautam Gambhir’s house before the next T20 World Cup 2026 matches, watch video
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Since it was a no-ball, Sri Lanka got a total of five runs without bowling any legal balls. Well, this was the beginning of chaos in Colombo. After this, McCarthy bowled two consecutive wide balls, due to which Sri Lanka got extra runs. Mendis then hit a powerful six off a free hit, which meant Sri Lanka scored 15 runs off only one valid ball from McCarthy.
McCarthy bounced back with two quick wickets
Later, Mendis scored two more runs on the next ball. The Irish pacer bowled another wide, and then the Sri Lankan pacer ran for two more runs and was eventually caught by George Dockrell on the next ball. Mendis’s innings ended on 44 runs in just 19 balls.
Also read: Wanindu Hasaranga became the highest wicket taker for Sri Lanka in T20 World Cup.
Barry McCarthy made an unwanted record in T20 World Cup
By the end of this unforgettable over, McCarthy had bowled a total of 11 balls. He gave 19 runs but also took two wickets in two consecutive balls. The combination of wides, no-balls, sixes and wickets made it one of the most extraordinary overs in T20 World Cup history.
It was the joint-longest over in T20 World Cup history and fans couldn’t stop talking about it. McCarthy’s spending spree didn’t help Ireland as they fell just 20 runs short of chasing 164 against Sri Lanka in the Group B match of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2025.
Here is how fans reacted to the chaos in Colombo:
Academy Alert 🚨
Ireland bowled by Barry McCarthy
11 ball over but two wickets in between 💔 pic.twitter.com/LncGhkbQjD– Dinda Academy (@academy_dinda) 8 February 2026
Barry McCarthy certainly made the big bucks tonight. Fixing Unreal from @crickettyreland #SLvIRE
– VIPER (@KillerViperr) 8 February 2026
Watching the Ireland cricket team for the first time in years because I’m tired of seeing pampered fat boys doing absolute rubbish and how in God’s name is Barry McCarthy still bowling to them in the death overs??? #T20WorldCup
– Ger (@GerOnSport) 8 February 2026
Barry McCarthy certainly made the big bucks tonight. Fixing Unreal from @crickettyreland #SLvIRE
– VIPER (@KillerViperr) 8 February 2026
Why the hell did Paul Stirling think it was a good idea to bring Barry McCarthy back when Tector still had 3 overs left?? #ICCT20WORLDCUP
-Dalyn Preston (@DalynP31) 8 February 2026
Barry McCarthy’s 19th over in the Ireland vs Sri Lanka match 😭🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/vr17WwkwBK
– Cric Dimension (@cric_dimension) 8 February 2026
Barry McCarthy was man of the match for Sri Lanka today, he was absolutely terrifying with the ball in the field. You can’t move players in T20 cricket, it’s really that simple! He definitely can’t play the next game! #SRIIRE #T20WorldCup2026
– G Dog (@GHL72) 8 February 2026
Barry McCarthy just finished a marathon.
1st ball-no ball+4
Second ball- wide
third ball wide
4th ball-6
5th ball-2
Sixth ball- wide
7th ball-2
8th ball-wicket
9th ball-wicket
10th ball- wide
11th ball-0#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/C7xg5iACKE– Mr. Athar🏏 (@cricdrugs) 8 February 2026
Barry McCarthy is not the kind of bowler you want in the death overs in a T20 match. He was an embarrassing mess despite taking two wickets, single-handedly handing the match to Sri Lanka! #SRIIRE #T20WorldCup2026
– G Dog (@GHL72) 8 February 2026
