Australia keep the semi-final hopes alive as they defeated Ireland today by 42 runs. The victory jointly made them the topper of the table with five points. Aussie skipper Aaron Finch received the Player of the Match award for his brilliant batting display against the Irish.
Match Report
Andrew Balbirniew, the captain of Ireland, won the toss and decided to bowl first. So, Australia started their batting innings with David Warner and Aaron Finch.
Like the previous three games, opener David Warner once again failed to get runs for Australia. The opener lost his wicket in the 3rd over, scoring only three. However, captain Fich took responsibility and made a fantastic partnership with Mitchell Marsh.
Relying on them, Australia picked up 52 runs on the 3rd wicket. However, Irish bowler Barry McCarthy broke their partnership as he picked up Mitchell Marsh in the 9th over. Marsh scored 28 runs before leaving the crease.
Glenn Maxwell, the following batter, looked good but failed to stay long. He departed the crease with nine runs. But skipper Finch again built up another crucial partnership with Marcus Stoinis. Together they added 80 runs on the scoreboard.
The captain got a half-century in this match but had to stop in the 17th over. Barry McCarthy took his wicket. However, the skipper scored the highest 63 runs before his departure. On the other side, Marcus Stoinis added 35 off 25 balls. Depending on these runs, Australia ended their innings with 179 runs.
Chasing the target, Ireland had a nightmare. Their top order had been destroyed by the Aussie bowlers. In 25 runs, Ireland lost five of their batters. After that, Lorcan Tucker tried hard to settle down on the crease. He made a good partnership of 43 runs with the new batter, Gareth Delany.
However, Delany lost his wicket after scoring 14 runs. On the other hand, Lorcan Tucker remained not out in 71 runs. But the other batters couldn’t contribute enough. Due to this, Ireland became all-out in 137 runs, which resulted in Australia winning by 42 runs.