By Fathima Zanaida
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (TheSportsNEXT) September 19, 2012: A clinical and professional all-round performance by Shane Watson helped Australia breeze to 7 wickets victory over Ireland in their opening Group B match of the ICC World Twenty20 2012 (ICCWT20) played at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Wednesday.
Ireland were struck hard on the very first delivery of the match when their skipper William Porterfield (Duck) played a wrong pull-shot which brought about his dismal end. His wickets dented confidence of the Irish side and their top-order were all over the place against some quality Australian fast bowling, especially by Shane Watson and Mitchell Starc.
Shane Watson was the star of the show as he captured three wickets for 26 runs and then doubled his contribution with an innings of 51 runs from just 30 balls hitting five boundaries and three sixes.
Irish captain William Porterfield won the toss and decided to bat first on a hard and bouncy track at R Premadasa Stadium and his decision soon back-fired as he found himself back in the hut without disturbing scorers.
Paul Stirling (7 from 12 – 1 four) soon followed his skipper before Ed Joyce (16 from 18 – 3 fours) and Niall O’Brien (20 from 24 – 2 fours) tried resurrecting the innings but failed to do so against a quality fast bowling attack of Australia as the Irish side lost four of their top-order batsmen with total at 33 runs. Gary Wilson (5 from 5 -1 four) was the fourth man to leave the crease.
However, O’Brien brothers dig themselves into the middle and added most-needed 52 runs for the fifth wicket but pressure to score at a hefty rate was always getting big on the batsmen and when the partnership was broken between Niall O’Brien (20 from 24 – 2 fours) and Kevin O’Brien (35 from 29 – 5 fours) there was nothing left in the bag for the Irish team.
Alex Cusack (15 not out from 14 – 1 four) and Nigel Jones (14 not out from 10 – 1 six) used long handle in the death overs to take Ireland total to 123 for seven from 20 overs.
Shane Watson took three wickets for 26 runs while Mitchell Starc grabbed two scalps for 20 runs while Glenn Maxwell recorded figures of 1/12 and the 41-year-old Brad Hogg (1/22) also played a crucial part in demolition of the Irish opponents.
Australian run-chase got off to a confident start with openers Shane Watson (51 from 30 – 5 fours, 3 sixes) and David Warner (26 from 23 – 4 fours) scoring 60 runs for the first wicket at a brisk rate.
By the time opening partnership was broken, the result was very much visible in favor of the Aussies but Ireland bowlers did manage to take couple of more wickets of Watson and Mike Hussey (10 from 11), before Cameron White (22 not out from 19 – 3 fours) regained some of its form and along with skipper George Bailey (6 not out from 8 – 1 four) completed the job in a professional fashion.
Australia completed the target on the first ball of the 16th over when Cameron White launched George Dockrell to mid-wicket boundary.
Shane Watson was rightly declared Man of the Match for his all-round contribution to the Australian victory over minnows.
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