Key events
6th over: Ireland 49-5 (Tucker 17, Delaney 4) Ireland aren’t going down without a fight, they take sixteen off Starc’s over. Tucker looks in fine fettle, he flicks Starc to mid-wicket and pings an imperious pull off the next to hit consecutive boundaries. Delany gets in on the act with an open faced drive for four to third. Welcome runs for England fans fearful of that NRR.
5th over: Ireland 35-5 (Tucker 9, Delaney 0) Right then, who is batting now? Tucker is still there and so is Gareth Delany. Cummins continues after the Starc carnage, Tucker walks down the wicket and pings him through wicket, ain’t no thang. What a shot that is amongst the mayhem. Tucker nudges two to fine leg and a lesser spotted three off a hack through mid-on. Ten off the over and NO ONE DIED GOT OUT.
Reasons to be fearful/cheerful… one, two, three. Worth noting that if the Aussie margin of victory is 75 runs or more then their NRR will leapfrog England’s. I’m just the messenger.
Wicket! Dockrell b Starc (Ireland 25-5)
I can’t type these wickets out quick enough! “Rinse and repeat” says Isa Guha on tv comms and that is exactly it – full and fast with a bit of shape – Starc has two in the over, a double wicket maiden. This is an obliteration.
4th over: Ireland 25-5 (Tucker 0, Delaney 0)
Wicket! Campher b Starc 0 (Ireland 25-4)
Another one gone! Painful stuff this for the Irish. Campher is cleaned up by a textbook Starc in-ducker.
Wicket! Tector ct Sub (S Smith) b Maxwell (Ireland 22-3)
Harry Tector plays a sublime drive through mid-off… and then pulls a simple catch to Smith at square leg. Two in the over for Maxwell! Oh and Mitchell Starc is coming on.
3rd over: Ireland 24-3 (Tucker 0, Campher 0)
Wicket! Stirling ct Cummins b Maxwell 11 (Ireland 18-2)
Ireland lose another and it is Stirling on his way, he plinks a jubilant Maxwell to Cummins in covers…
Wicket! Balbirnie b Cummins 6 (Ireland 18-1)
Stirling sends Pat Cummins into the stands, a huge six off a good length ball. Nonchalant from the big man too. A swivelled pull brings Stirling four more and a leg bye brings the Irish skipper back on strike. His luck runs out as he steps to the offside and is cleaned up by Cummins. Frenetic start!
2nd over: Ireland 18-1 (Stirling 6, Tucker 0)
1st over: Ireland 7-0 (Stirling 6, Balbirnie 1) Hazlewood gets one to hoop with a perfect seam, Balbirnie aims big yahoo and misses, the ball clips the bails as it goes past but incredibly they remain unmoved! The luck of… DONT say it. Stirling then sets his stall out in fine fashion by pulling Hazlewood for six! Fantastic stuff.
Hazlewood has the new ball, Stirling and Balbirnie scratch their guards. Play!
I’m off down the kitchen for a quick refill of some strong brown liquid, catch you in a few minutes.
Here’s some more on that Virat Kohli story:
Australia set Ireland 180 to win
20th over: Australia 179-5 (David 15, Wade 7) Poor old Mark Adair… he gets some more tap from his final over, seventeen runs coming off the last of the innings to leave Ireland staring up at an imposing total. Tim David climbs into the first half of the over, bunting full deliveries and full tosses to the boundary. Wade then improvises a sprawling ramp from a very wide delivery that was heading off the cut strip, four more runs. A scampered two off the last brings the Aussie innings to a close. Adair is left to lick his wounds, 59 runs snatched off his spell.
19th over: Australia 162-5 (David 5, Wade 1) Excellent from Josh Little, he picks up his second wicket and goes for just four runs from the penultimate over. He finishes with fine figures – 2-21 from four. Adair is going to bowl the final over after going for some serious tap in his last one. Here we go…
Wicket! Stoinis ct Dockrell b Little 35 (Australia 160-5)
Gone! Stoinis carves Little to backward point. Another ‘impact’ innings from the big man. Mathew Wade is the new batter.
18th over: Australia 158-4 (Stoinis 35, David 3) Ireland hit back – Dockrell gets in and out, sending down an over for just three runs. He finishes with 0-24 from his four. Two to go…
Wicket! Finch ct Adair b McCarthy 63
The skipper was looking weary and he eventually holes out to long on but 63 off 44 balls will keep his critics quiet. Tim David is the new batter and he’s off the mark straightaway. McCarthy finishes his stint with 3-29 off four overs.
17th over: Australia 155-4 (Stoinis 34, David 1)
16th over: Australia 145-3 (Finch 57, Stoinis 31) Stoinis lofts a drive into the covers and is nearly caught but Delany can’t quite cling on diving forward. A tough chance. Dockrell is milked for ones and twos before Finch drives powerfully for six down the ground. Eleven runs off it, Aussies on the charge. It could be a chastening last four overs for Ireland.
15th over: Australia 134-3 (Finch 50, Stoinis 27) Adair has a nightmare over. As if to rile/make Michael Keane look like a T20 Nostradamus he loses his radar and sends down a painful five wides in the over. That’s the least of his worries too… the over goes for 26 in total as Stoinis crunches two fours and Finch swivels for four before bringing up his fifty with a swatted six off a full toss from the final ball. Australia on the charge and Ireland under the cosh for the first time in the match.
“As I was saying…” emails Mystic Meg Mike.
14th over: Australia 108-3 (Finch 40, Stoinis 16) Stoinis plays a powerful straight drive off Delaney to get Australia’s first boundary in almost three overs (17 balls). He follows it up with a pull for a couple more and then whacks a six over long on. Sixteen runs from the over helps the Aussie cause.
Michael Keane emails in with a bugbear:
“Jim, nice for those of us back home that Ireland are playing at a civilised hour, although the 5am starts have mostly been worth it. But how many wides have we bowled? It’s absolutely maddening, especially from our seamers who are otherwise generally pretty good. Maybe a bit short for the Gabba, but generally dangerous and tight. I felt wides (rather than Moeen Ali) nearly cost us against England and we aren’t helping ourselves today.”
I make it seven wides so far from Ireland, which isn’t too bad in the grand scheme but as ever every run counts in this format.
13th over: Australia 92-3 (Finch 38, Stoinis 3) McCarthy has been fantastic this evening. His latest over goes for five and he has 2-19 from his three overs so far. Ireland are keeping the pressure on Australia here.
Away from the Gabba for a second – this is pretty dark and unsettling:
12th over: Australia 87-3 (Finch 34, Stoinis 1) Just three runs from Dockerill’s second as Australia do a mini re-build job after Maxwell’s departure.
Many thought that George Dockrell was underbowled for Ireland in recent years for Ireland.
Has now taken 1-15 across 3 overs against England and Australia. Very useful complement to his power hitting; another player who could find his way onto the franchise circuit
— Tim Wigmore (@timwig) October 31, 2022
Wicket! Maxwell ct Tucker b Little 13 (Australia 84-3)
Josh Little returns after the isotonic slurpings. Finch gets him away for a cover driven four before a single brings Maxwell on strike. Little sends one whistling around his ears and then gets him next ball! A full, wide and fast ball is slashed at by Maxwell and the meaty nick flies to Tucker behind the timbers.
Marcus Stoinis is the new man, he marmalised Sri Lanka the other night to get his side over the line. They need crucial runs from him here too. Little keeps him honest with his first ball, a defended dot.
11th over: Australia 84-3 (Finch 34, Stoinis 0)
This made me chuckle:
Nasser Hussain on Halloween: “I can’t work out what it’s all about to be honest”. Bloke rarely misses
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) October 31, 2022
10th over: Australia 78-2 (Finch 27, Maxwell 13) Maxwell tries to paddle Delaney and is given out by umpire Menon but reviews straight away with a confident smile. Sure enough the replay shows he under-edged the ball onto pad and the decision is reversed. Next ball is another big shout for lbw off a switch hit, Ireland go upstairs this time but the decision stays with Maxwell. Ireland are in this game, Delaney frustrates as he fires in the ball on a flat trajectory. Succour for Maxwell who gets one in the slot off the final ball and smears it back down the ground for six. Eventful over, ten gone – time for a drink.
9th over: Australia 68-2 (Finch 27, Maxwell 7) Eight runs and a wicket off the ninth as Glenn Maxwell prowls out to the crease. He’s on it straightaway, knocking three twos to keep the fielders and his captain busy.
Wicket! Marsh ct Tucker b McCarthy 28 (Australia 60-2)
McCarthy has a brace, not a great shot from Marsh who leans back on a cut shot and toe ends a widish delivery to the keeper.
8th over: Australia 60-1 (Finch 27, Marsh 28) Dockrell on for a twirl and then batters are happy to work him around and take the ones and twos. Seven from the over and the fifty partnership between Marsh and Finch.
7th over: Australia 53-1 (Finch 24, Marsh 24) Fifteen runs plundered off Fionn Hand. Mitch Marsh hits a brutal smite onto the second tier of the stadium behind midwicket – a 102 metre blow. And another! Six more! Marsh is happy to swipe across the line and dispatches Hand for another maximum. Ireland need one here, that was a *momentum shifting over TM*.
6th over: Australia 38-1 (Finch 23, Marsh 11) Marsh crunches a four down the ground off Gareth Delaney but the spinner recovers well, spearing in five dots in a row. Powerplay done.
How do you see this one going? Another finger chewin’ botty squeaker? As ever, send us your thoughts, theories and general musings.
5th over: Australia 34-1 (Finch 23, Marsh 7) Finch is already looking more fluent this evening, he absolutely nails a slogged SIX off Adair that flies deep into the Gabba crowd, a whip-crack sound off the bat that echoes through the Brisbane night. The Aussie skipper then goes up and over to get four more. Fourteen off the over for Australia.
4th over: Australia 20-1 (Finch 11, Marsh 6) Little returns and keeps a lid on things, Finch gets a cut shot away for four to get him going but Ireland are tight in the field, six runs from the over.
3rd over: Australia 14-1 (Finch 5, Marsh 6) Mitch Marsh is the new man and he slots his first ball away on the swivel-pull for four. No sighters needed. Decent over from McCarthy though, six runs and a Warner wicket.
Wicket! Warner ct Adair b McCarthy 3 (Australia 8-1)
Gone! Warner paddles Barry McCarthy straight to Adair on the ‘45*. Ireland are buoyant. Davey Dubya can’t believe what he’s done but has to haul himself from the field.
*Brimful of… catcher
2nd over: Australia 8-0 (Warner 3, Finch 5) The wonderfully moustachioed Mark Adair gets a full ball to hoop away from Finch who takes a few trots down the pitch. Lovely ball but no dice, skimming past the edge. A couple more runs are added but Warner is frustrated to miss out on a full-toss outside off-stump, he crunches it to Dockrell in the covers who pulls off a fine stop to save a certain boundary.
1st over: Australia 5-0 (Warner 1, Finch 4) Relatively subdued first over, five runs from it. Little gets some decent bounce and the two batters get their eye in. The pitch looks customarily bouncy.
Righto, here we go then. Anyone else excited to see Josh Little get in and amongst the Aussie batting line up? David Warner has yet to make his mark on this tournament and Finch looked dreadfully out of knick in his last game against Sri Lanka, scoring 31 off 42 balls. He’s batted (but not middled – hoho) any criticism – calling the innings an “anomaly”.
Little has the ball in hand, let’s play!
The teams head out for the anthems, there’s just enough time to catch up on yesterday’s matches. More eventful… events to happen in this world cup:
Teams:
Ireland field the same side that did for England and there’s one change for Australia, Adam Zampa comes back in after his bout of covid, replacing Ashton Agar.
Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch (c), 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Tim David, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood
Ireland: 1 Paul Stirling, 2 Andy Balbirnie (c), 3 Lorcan Tucker(wk), 4 Harry Tector, 5 Curtis Campher, 6 George Dockrell, 7 Gareth Delany, 8 Mark Adair, 9 Fionn Hand, 10 Barry McCarthy, 11 Josh Little.
Ireland win the toss and will bowl first.
Andy Balbirnie calls correctly and sticks the Aussies in. Finch confirms to Isa Guha that he’d have done the same. Team news imminently, in the meantime here’s an action shot of the latest, erm, action:
Good News – It isn’t raining! Adam Gilchrist is prowling round the lush Gabba outfield in a powder blue jacket under clear skies. What more could you want on a Monday morning/evening? Toss incoming…
Preamble
James Wallace
Hello and welcome to the OBO of what is surely a ccccrunch T20 World Cup game between Australia and Ireland. Jim here with the call, up with the lark in London, prime Colombian coffee beans well and truly on the go and giddy to see what this fascinating World Cup has in store next.
After Friday’s rained off fixture between the hosts and England, things in Group 1 are more crammed than the kitchen of a house party being held in a Sardine’s studio flat (did I mention it is early?). England, Ireland and Australia all sit on three points after three matches, the English with the superior run rate which could yet prove crucial. New Zealand sit pretty on five points and look a certainty to qualify. The Kiwis thumping win over Australia is the chief reason why Aaron Finch’s side will be feeling decidedly twitchy, their net run rate of -1.555 is the worst in the group.
They have to win today at the Gabba and win handsomely to give themselves the best chance of making it out alive. The Irish will have other ideas, they’ve lit up this tournament and are confident they can hold their own with the big boys in this format. Fingers crossed for another classic Down Under.
Play is underway in Brisbane at 6pm (7pm AEDT/8am GMT), I’ll be back with news of the teams and toss very shortly. In the meantime, get in touch why dontcha? Email me or get on the twitters @Jimbo_Cricket.