BRISBANE – Australia defeated Ireland by 42 runs in their Super 12 encounter of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Gabba in Brisbane on Monday.
Aaron Finch’s stunning knock helped Aussies in recovering from a slow start after Ireland bowlers used the conditions well to keep the hosts quiet.
Barry McCarthy dismissed David Warner in the third over of the innings before Australia could get any sort of momentum going. Finch and Mitchell Marsh tried their best but they could take Australia to a score of 38/1 at the end of the powerplay.
Marsh and Finch started taking on the bowlers after the powerplay and added the necessary impetus to the Australian innings. Finch played two crucial partnerships of 52 and 70 with Marsh and Marcus Stoinis respectively, which helped team set a competitive total.
Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie and Paul Stirling played some breathtaking shots to start off their innings. They put on an opening stand of 18 runs within just two overs but the Australian bowlers made a quick recovery and dismissed Ireland’s top and middle-order completely.
Irish player Tucker remained unbeaten on 71 from 48 deliveries finally as Ireland got bowled out for 137. Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Starc claimed a couple of wickets each while Stoinis also chipped in with one scalp.
The win over Ireland has taken Australia level on points with New Zealand but they have played a match more and are still behind on NRR. Their NRR has imprpved to -0.304, though, whereas Ireland’s NRR has dropped to -1.544.
Squads
Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood
Ireland: Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie (c), Lorcan Tucker (wk), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Fionn Hand, Josh Little
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