Ireland upset England again in dramatic T20 World Cup clash

Ireland and Melbourne's weather have upset England in a result that will have major ramifications for Australia hopes of progressing from the T20 World Cup Super 12 stage.

Dawid Malan (35) and Moeen Ali (24no off 12) had got England's chase of Ireland's 157 all out back on track after the loss of three early wickets before the rain wreaked havoc at the MCG.

Players were taken from the field in the 15th over as the rain came bucketing down, with England five runs behind the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern par score.

And Ireland emerged victorious minutes later with the game not able to be resumed by 6.56pm local time, claiming the two points to move up to fourth in Group 1 and keep their World Cup alive.

The result means Australia's blockbuster clash with England at the same venue on Friday night becomes a do-or-die clash for both sides with the loser effectively dumped from the tournament.

Quick Josh Little was the chief destroyer for the Irish, claiming the wickets of dangerous openers Jos Buttler for a duck second ball of the innings and Alex Hales (7) in his second over on his way to 2-16 from three overs.

Fionn Hand (1-17) also castled Ben Stokes (6) stumps with a beautiful inswinger as England were left reeling at 3-29 in the sixth over.

It's the second time Ireland have upset England in a World Cup with Kevin O'Brien inspiring a stunning one-wicket win in the 50-over version at Bangalore in 2011.

England have also suffered T20 World Cup losses to Netherlands at Chittagong in 2014 and at Lord's in 2009.

Skipper Andrew Balbirnie was the mainstay for Ireland with a powerful 62 off 47 balls opening the batting while Lorcan Tucker provided support with 34 as they reached 1-103 after losing the toss and being sent in.

"The way Moeen was playing I was probably worried if they got another ball in," said Balbirnie, who was awarded player-of-the-match. "I said that to someone in the change room there.

"I've seen a lot of rain in my time in cricket and I've never been happier to see the rain come down there.

"It all happened too quickly to take in what we achieved."

But the wickets tumbled regularly after Tucker was run out at the non-strikers end off the hand of spinner Adil Rashid which stalled Ireland's momentum.

They were bowled out for 157 in the final over with speedster Mark Wood (3-34) and Liam Livingstone (3-17) the pick of the bowlers, while Chris Woakes went the journey, conceding 41 runs from three overs.

Ireland next play Afghanistan at the MCG on Friday afternoon prior to the Australia-England clash.