Australia Edge Past Ireland
The world champions in the fifty-over format, Australia, got a major scare from one of the minnows of the game, before escaping to a hard fought win in their one-off One-Day International against Ireland at Belfast.
The match that was meant to provide some practice to the Aussies ahead of their tour of United Kingdom almost became a nightmare, as the hosts fought every inch of the way before succumbing to a 39 run defeat.
The tourists won the toss at the Clontarf Club cricket ground and opted to bat first in seemingly good batting conditions.
The start from the powerful Australian batting line-up was shaky, as all-rounder Shane Watson returned to the pavilion after a measly contribution of 13 runs.
His departure brought on the crease the Aussie captain Ricky Ponting. The Tasmanian looked in decent touch as he and wicket-keeper batsman Tim Paine added 66 runs for the second wicket, before Ponting fell to Stirling after contributing 33 runs.
Michael Clarke continued his recent woeful run in limited overs cricket, falling for a duck to Cusack.
Cameron White did the repair work with Paine; the duo added another 66 runs for the fourth wicket partnership in 14 overs, as the generally aggressive Australians struggled against the disciplined bowling.
White was also snapped up by Stirling, and the Aussies found themselves in further trouble when Paine and ‘Mr. Cricket’ Mike Hussey left for the pavilion in quick succession.
Australia were wobbling at 194 for 6 in the 46th over; at this juncture, some quick runs by Nathan Hauritz and James Hopes helped the tourists set a challenging total of 231 for 9 in their 50 overs.
The hosts had a great day in the field; O’Brien claimed three wickets, while Stirling and Cusack snapped two wickets each for the Irish team.
The Australians were in for a rude shock as the Irish openers Porterfield and Stirling laid into the opening attack of Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris.
The openers cashed in against some loose bowling, adding 80 runs in only 11 overs to set the cats amongst the pigeons.
The home crowd was also fully behind them, cheering every boundary struck, and it looked like the Irish were ready for another major scalp in their short cricket history, but luck ran out for the hosts, and a top order collapse saw them crash to 86 for 3 from 80 for no loss.
Ryan Harris made a grand comeback, picking up the wickets of Stirling and Wilson, while Porterfield was cleaned up by off-spinner Nathan Hauritz.
Neil O’ Brien and Cusack added 51 runs for the fourth wicket, and the target looked well within Irish reach, yet disaster struck and for an addition of 19 runs, 5 wickets were lost, as the wind went out of the Irish sails.
James Hopes was the hero for the tourists; the medium pacer bowled a nagging line and length as he ran through the lower half.
Hopes, who is considered the weak link in the Aussie bowling attack, claimed an astonishing 5 wickets for a measly 15 runs to guide his team home.
Mooney and last man Rankin added 36 runs to give the hosts a glimmer of hope, but it all ended the Australian way as Shane Watson dismissed Mooney to bring relief to his team camp.
Besides Hopes, Nathan Hauritz and Ryan Harris claimed two wickets each. Hopes won the man of the match award for his outstanding bowling effort.
Despite the loss, the hosts can be proud of their effort, as they almost ran over the world champions in the fifty over format.
The Australians, on the other hand, have got through an early jitter, and would be fully focused on the job on hand especially in their five match one-day series in England, before taking on Pakistan in two Twenty20 and two test matches in July.
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