Australia registered its second win of the tournament tonight in the game held against Ireland. This was a big win and also boosted the Net Run Rate of the Aussies. However, they are still short of England’s Net Run Rate. This may hurt them badly if Net Run Rate comes into the picture for the semifinal qualification.
While batting first, Australia lost the wicket of David Warner pretty early. However, Aaron Finch (63) and Mitchell Marsh (28) settled the innings with their 52-run stand. After Marsh got out, Maxwell made a cameo and went back to the pavilion. Later, Finch and Stoinis (35) made a partnership of 70 runs and ensured a big total for the Aussies. In the process, Finch also scored his half-century. Eventually, Australia ended its innings at 179/5. Barry McCarthy (3/29) scalped three wickets and Joshua Little (2/21) took two wickets for Ireland.
Australia needed to restrict Ireland below 105 to surpass the Net Run Rate of England. Australian bowlers kept this in mind and attacked the Irish batters brutally. As a result, Ireland lost half of its side inside the powerplay. Lorcan Tucker (71* off 48 balls) was the sole warrior for Ireland in the game. Apart from him, no other batter could handle the bowling of the Aussies. As a result, Ireland got all-out for 137 and lost the game by 42 runs. Mitchell Starc (2/43), Pat Cummins (2/28), Glenn Maxwell (2/14) and Adam Zampa (2/19) took two wickets each.
