BrisbaneAustralia recovered from a slow start with skipper Aaron Finch’s 44-ball 63 as Australia posted a competitive score of 179 for five against Ireland in the crucial T20 World Cup match here on Monday. After being invited to bat, Australia lost the wicket of opener David Warner (03) in the third over, after which Finch batted fast and completed his half-century in 38 balls. This is the first T20 International fifty by the Australian captain in eight innings.
Finch shared a partnership of 70 runs with Marcus Stoinis which came in just 36 balls. Stoinis contributed 35 runs in 25 balls. But Finch became the third victim of Ireland pacer Barry McCarthy (3 for 29) in the 17th over, as the defending champions could not collect the expected runs in the ‘death overs’.
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Left-arm spinner George Dockrell (24 runs in four overs) conceded just three runs in the 18th over, while left-arm pacer Josh Little (2 for 21) also bowled well and dismissed Stoinis in the 19th over. Gave it four runs. In addition to Finch, McCarthy took the wickets of Warner and Mitchell Marsh (28 runs). But in the final over, Tim David scored two fours and scored an unbeaten 15 off 10 balls to help increase the score.
The defending champions, who were aiming for a big win to keep semi-final hopes alive, made a cautious start, but Warner then returned cheaply to the pavilion. The star opener was caught at short fine leg off McCarthy’s short ball, which continued the Australian’s poor performance in the T20 World Cup. The left-handed batsman has so far scored 5, 11 and 3 runs in three matches of the T20 World Cup.