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Australia 179 for 5 (Finch 63, McCarthy 3-29) beat Ireland 137 (Tucker 71*, Maxwell 2-14) by 42 runs
The winning margin will indicate that the reigning champs’ campaign is back on track. Australia, who defeated Ireland by 42 runs to tie New Zealand for first place in Group 1 with five points, gave a less-than-stellar effort. Their net-run rate is still lower than England’s, which might be important when determining which teams advance to the semifinals.
Australia’s recovery from a sluggish start after being called to bat was aided by a half-century stand between Aaron Finch and Mitchell Marsh. Ireland, though, consistently made strikes, and Australia only reached 100 in the 14th over. Marcus Stoinis and Finch then launched an attack against a helpless Mark Adair, whose third over cost 26 runs, bringing Australia close to the 200-run mark. Before Ireland pulled them back at the very end to keep them under 180, the two combined for 70 runs for the fourth wicket.
Finch scored his greatest T20I total since March 2021 and highest T20 World Cup total since 2014, both of which are significant achievements for Australia. However, he strained his hamstring in the process and was forced to leave the field for Ireland’s retort after the seventh over. There will be worries about how quickly Tim David and Stoinis will recover from their aches and pains. Australia’s next game is against Afghanistan in four days.
In Finch’s absence, Matthew Wade coordinated an attack that was excellent up front but slowed down later. Before Lorcan Tucker and Gareth Delany teamed up for a 43-run sixth-wicket stand, Ireland had a score of 25 for 5. Tucker made sure Ireland weren’t bowled out for 104 or fewer or dismissed for any record-low scores, which would have raised Australia’s net run rate over that of England. He reached his seventh T20I half-century before getting out on 71*. Ireland’s chances of making it to the semifinals are slim. They still have one game left, which is on Friday against New Zealand.
Australia’s rocky beginning
Ireland put in a focused effort against Australia’s sluggish start, and it took them 14 balls to hit their first boundary. David Warner was hesitant up front. He attempted to follow a Josh Little delivery down leg but failed. He also slashed at an Adair full toss but could only get it as far as cover. Finally, Warner dragged Barry McCarthy straight to short fine leg to leave the game for three runs. With 19 runs in his first three innings of this competition, he has yet to get going. After three overs, Australia had a score of 14 for 1 and added 24 runs to conclude the powerplay on 38 for 1. Before Marsh hit two sixes off Fionn Hand, however, Australia had a score of 38 for 1.
Marsh was having a fantastic moment, but when he tried to cut McCarthy and edged it behind, he didn’t move. A foundation was set for a second good stand later in the innings with the 52-run Finch-Marsh partnership off six overs.
Adair is terrible now
Australia had been largely contained by Ireland, with the run rate remaining below eight per over until the end of the 14th over. Then everything went wrong. Finch and Stoinis began to eat when Adair raised his arm to bowl the 15th. Adair’s opening ball was met by a drive from Stoinis who lofted him to long-on where McCarthy made a superb save before pulling Adair through short fine.
Adair delivered three consecutive wides while under pressure before moving to the back of the length, which Finch pulled for four. He concluded by tossing a full ball, which Finch hit over a deep backward square to reach his first T20I fifty of the competition. Adair bowled a total of 11 balls in his over and gave up 26 runs.
Little can be big
Left-armer Little, who will compete in the SA20 in the southern hemisphere, is the subject of considerable hype. He performed admirably once more while up against notable opponents. In order to prevent Australia from fully eclipsing Ireland, he began the power play with two tight overs of primarily hard lengths before striking in the middle and at the end.
Little was brought back for the 11th over after his first burst, and he assisted Glenn Maxwell before dismissing him for 13 runs. Australia was 84 for 3 and their progress was perhaps not as smooth as they had intended. He bowled the last over, getting rid of Stoinis and allowing only four runs to accumulate a 2 for 21 total, making him Ireland’s most frugal bowler of the evening.
Invasion by Australia
Josh Hazlewood flicked Andy Balbirnie’s off stump, but the bails did not fall, therefore Ireland escaped with one run. However, their luck ended there. Balbirne attempted to flick Pat Cummins through fine leg in the following ball but was bowled instead. Paul Stirling toe-ended Glenn Maxwell to mid-off two balls later.
Maxwell persuaded Tector to pull a straight to square leg at the conclusion of that over. At the other end, where Starc took over for Cummins and destroyed the Irish middle order, there was no letup. He bowled Curtis Campher and George Dockrell with almost identical deliveries that swung into them and beat the edge. Ireland had scored 25 for 5 in the first four overs, thus ending any prospect of another surprise.
Only Tucker shines
Tucker demonstrated why Balbirnie has referred to him as the batter who will head Ireland’s lineup into the future when his squad was in shambles during the tournament. After the fifth wicket was taken, two balls later, he smashed Cummins over mid-on for four. Similar to how he dismissed Starc, he was attentive to even the smallest length problems.
He scored 11 runs in Starc’s third over, 16 in this one, and continued to take greater risks as his inning went on. Tucker got 35 runs off the 18 balls Starc threw to him, lofting Starc over Wade, over the infield, and finally over mid-off.
