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The 2020 Inter-Provincial Trophy was the eighth edition of the Inter-Provincial Trophy, a Twenty20 cricket competition played in Ireland during August and September 2020. It was the fourth edition of the competition to be played with full Twenty20 status. Northern Knights were the defending champions.

On the opening day of the tournament, Northern Knights beat North West Warriors by two runs in a match affected by the rain, and Leinster Lightning defeated Munster Reds by nine wickets with twelve overs to spare. Leinster Lightning won the tournament, to claim their sixth title, after beating Northern Knights by five wickets in the penultimate round of matches.

The final two fixtures of the tournament, scheduled to be played on 8 September 2020, were both called off a day before they were meant to be played. The match between Munster Reds and Northern Knights was cancelled because of a possible COVID-19 "chain of transmission" linked back to a cancelled match in the 2020 Bob Willis Trophy in England a few days prior. The other match, between North West Warriors and Leinster Lightning, was called off due to a wet outfield, meaning only half of the scheduled twelve matches finished with a result.

Background

Originally the tournament was scheduled to be held from 12 June to 3 August 2020, with competition split into two halves, each branded as a T20 Festival. The first half was scheduled to be played in June, and the second half was scheduled to be played in August.

On 26 March 2020, Cricket Ireland confirmed that domestic competitions would be pushed back to 28 May 2020 at the earliest, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Government restrictions prevented any cricket, including training, from starting before June 2020. The Irish government announced a provisional date of 20 July 2020 for a possible restart of sporting fixtures in the country. Plans of a possible start of domestic cricket in Ireland, with matches taking place during August and September, were looked at in July 2020. On 22 July 2020, Cricket Ireland confirmed the revised fixtures for the tournament. On 15 August 2020, all the teams confirmed their squads for the tournament.

Points table

The following teams competed:

Fixtures

• Northern Knights won the toss and elected to field.
• Rain during Northern Knights innings prevented any further play.
• Will Smale (North West Warriors), Ross Adair and CJ van der Walt (Northern Knights) all made their T20 debuts.
• Points: Northern Knights 4, North West Warriors 0.

• Leinster Lightning won the toss and elected to field.
• Matthew Foster and Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin (Munster Reds) both made their T20 debuts.
• Points: Leinster Lightning 5, Munster Reds 0.

• No toss.
• The match was called off due to the impact of Storm Francis.
• Points: Leinster Lightning 2, Northern Knights 2.

• North West Warriors won the toss and elected to field.
• North West Warriors were set a revised target of 129 runs from 12 overs due to rain.
• Points: Leinster Lightning 4, North West Warriors 0.
• Greg Ford (Leinster Lightning) made his T20 debut.

• No toss.
• No play was possible due to rain.
• Points: Northern Knights 2, Munster Reds 2.

• North West Warriors won the toss and elected to bat.
• Ryan Hunter (North West Warriors) made his T20 debut.
• Points: Northern Knights 5, North West Warriors 0.

• Leinster Lightning won the toss and elected to field.
• The match was reduced to 13 overs per side due to a wet outfield.
• James Newland (Leinster Lightning) made his T20 debut.
• Points: Leinster Lightning 5, Munster Reds 0.

• No toss.
• No play was possible due to rain.
• Points: Munster Reds 2, North West Warriors 2.

• No toss.
• No play was possible due to rain.
• Points: Munster Reds 2, North West Warriors 2.

• Leinster Lightning won the toss and elected to field.
• Josh Manley (Northern Knights) made his T20 debut.
• Points: Leinster Lightning 4, Northern Knights 0.

• No toss.
• The match was called off on the previous day due to a COVID-19 related issue.
• Points: Munster Reds 2, Northern Knights 2.

• No toss.
• The match was called off on the previous day due to a wet outfield.
• Points: North West Warriors 2, Leinster Lightning 2.

References

1. "Fixtures announced for men's internationals, Inter-Provincial Series and Super 3s in 2020". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
2. "Interpros to return next month". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
3. "Knights lift T20 crown". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
4. "Knights win rain-shortened encounter at Bready". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
5. "Lightning bolt to victory over Reds in opener". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
6. "Lightning beat Knights to clinch T20 Trophy". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
7. "Leinster Lightning beat Northern Knights to claim sixth T20 Inter-Provincial series crown". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
8. "Cricket Ireland cancels match as a precautionary measure". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
9. "Cricket Ireland cancels interprovincial T20 over links to Northamptonshire Covid case". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
10. "T20 interpro cancelled". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
11. "Interpro series cut". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
12. "UPDATE: Irish cricket season". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
13. "Season pushed back". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
14. "Update on COVID-19 and the Irish cricket season". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
15. "Light at end of tunnel for cricket?". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
16. "Ireland hopeful of Interprovincial season". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
17. "Test Triangle Inter-Provincial Series and Super 50 Series fixtures released for 2020 season". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
18. "Squads named for interpro series". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
19. "Test Triangle Inter-Provincial squads announced; captains give their views". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
20. "Points Table". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
21. "Knights clash with Lightning called off". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 25 August 2020.

External links

• Series home at ESPN Cricinfo

• 2020 in Irish cricket
• Inter-Provincial Trophy seasons