Australia 182 for 6 (Stoinis 45, Inglis 37, Renshaw 37) beat Ireland 115 (Dockrell 41, Ellis 4-12, Zampa 4-23) by 67 runs
Inglis and Green provide early breathing space
Head was given a life in the first over when he cut Matthew Humphreys to backward point where Ben Calitz put down a low chance. Ireland had dropped seven chances against Sri Lanka and it was an ominous start. However, this one did not cost them as a horrid mix-up led to Head being run out. It added to a sense of unease around Australia, but that didn’t last for long.
Inglis and Green took the attack during the fielding restrictions and Australia were quickly scoring above ten an over. The duo struck a six apiece in the fifth over against Mark Adair – although Inglis’ was nearly a parried boundary catch by Gareth Delany who had just touched the rope with his foot – before Green picked out midwicket.
Inglis followed the over after the powerplay, driving George Dockrell to cover, but the early flurry of boundaries had earnt Australia the ability not to have to force things too hard. Still, with Glenn Maxwell’s lean run continuing when as he edged Harry Tector behind – Lorcan Tucker taking a sharp catch – Australia were 88 for 4 in the tenth over and, with an out-of-form Cooper Connolly then the bowlers to come, a vital stand loomed.
Renshaw, Stoinis show Plan B
Renshaw’s elevation to the squad in place of Matt Short had been with these exact conditions in mind. He and Stoinis, not a batter often associated with working the ball around, quickly assessed it was not a surface on which to blast the side out of a tricky situation. They tried to keep dot balls to a minimum and ran hard: Australia tallied 22 twos for the innings.
Renshaw waited 28 balls to find the boundary when he drove Dockrell through the covers. Stoinis had found the rope twice in three balls against Tector in the 12th over, but they were a rare breed. It wasn’t until the 18th over, when pace was back in the attack, that the ball cleared the rope again when Stoinis launched Adair over deep midwicket. Three balls earlier, Stoinis had been dropped by Delany in the covers. Adair did remove Stoinis with a low full toss, but Australia were able to cross 180.
Ellis’ masterclass
Ireland needed to replicate Australia’s powerplay burst but instead had to watch their captain limp back to the dugout after the first ball of the innings. He jabbed a full delivery from Xavier Bartlett to the on side and a couple of steps after setting off was in clear pain, barely able to make it to the other end. Ross Adair was dropped by Renshaw, a simple chance at point, in the second over, but Harry Tector lofted Matt Kuhnemann into the deep where the catch was safely held by Green.
Then Ellis, who is the senior member of Australia’s remaining pace attack, showed his bag of tricks. His first delivery was a back-of-the-hand slower ball which completely bamboozled Ross Adair who played all round it and lost middle stump. It was pace-bowling deception at its best.
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo
