Andy Balbirnie blossoms on the big stage of Cricket World Cup

As he trudged off at Malahide on September 12, having scored a 31-ball six in a one-day international against Scotland, Andy Balbirnie might have dwelled upon a sense of missed opportunity.

He faced the real prospect of exclusion from Ireland’s World Cup squad. While acclaimed as another stylish, technically correct product of Dublin, qualities that had earned him a contract with Middlesex, Balbirnie was lacking in the currency of runs.

He had scored just 89 runs in his first seven ODIs, and just one run across two T20 appearances in county cricket last season.