Australia completed a comprehensive win against Ireland in the one-off One Day International in Dublin, in preparation for the upcoming ODI series against the newly crowned Twenty20 world champions England. Australia beat Ireland by 39 runs.
After winning the toss, Australian captain Ricky Ponting decided to bat first; on a pitch which was expected to offer some sort of assistance to the seamers. However, showing confidence in his batting line-up, Punter decided to make first use of the pitch. Their start was not so convincing, as their in form all-rounder Shane Watson, who performed outstandingly well in the T20 World Cup, was completely at sea against some good bowling from the Irish, and consistent line and length meant the big right-hander was not allowed to get away with his trademark strokes. He did, however, manage to score a big six, which was the only boundary in his 15 ball innings of 13, before he was caught by Wilson on the bowling of the veteran medium pacer Rankin. Captain Ricky Ponting, after the break of the T20 World Cup, came back into the side and decided to take a cautious approach at the start of his innings, feeling his way back into the game. The wicketkeeper batsman Tim Paine, who was opening with Watson, was in good touch, but he too played the ball on merit, and did not go on an all-out attack, and alongside his captain put on 66 for the 2nd wicket. However, it took them almost 17 overs to achieve that goal.
Ponting was the next to depart after scoring a cautious 33 from 54 deliveries, in which he scored 5 boundaries. The captain was caught by White on the bowling of Cusack; next in was the T20 captain Michael Clarke, who had a quiet run at the T20 World Cup, but did manage to lead his team to the final of the tournament. His poor form continued, as he did not manage to score a single run, dismissed for naught as he tried to use his feet against the spin of Cusack and was stumped by Wilson.
The big hitting all-rounder Cameron White (another star of the T20 World Cup) was in next, and he joined Paine in the middle, but once again big shots were not easy to come by. White and Paine put on 66 for the 4thwicket, before White was sent packing caught by Porterfield on the bowling of Stirling for 42 runs from 54 balls. He smashed 4 boundaries in his innings.
With the world champions looking to be in a spot of bother with the score at 152 for 4 in the 38thover, ‘Mr. Cricket’ Michael Hussey came to the crease next. However, it was Paine who decided to accelerate the scoring, and after scoring 81 steady runs was dismissed after facing 122 balls, as he tried one shot too many and was caught by Neil O’Brien on the bowling of his brother Kevin O’Brien (Paine hit 5 fours and 2 sixes in his run). Another all-rounder, James Hopes, was in at number 8, but Michael Hussey failed to impress, and was dismissed for just 8 runs, as the O’Brien brothers once again joined forces to send the left-hander back in the hut, and after hardly scoring any runs in the final Powerplay, Australia managed a meagre score of 231 for 9 in their allotted 50 overs.
The underdog Irish side may have fancied their chances after restricting the Aussies to only 231, but the world champions have not retained the number one spot for no reason. The Ireland innings got off to a good start, with the openers going hard at Aussie attack, and in the first 10 overs, a huge upset looked on the cards as the hosts got to 80 in the first 10 overs, with Porterfield scoring 39, and the other opener Stirling getting 36. However, once both were dismissed, chances of an unlikely win became even slimmer, as Australia clawed their way back into the game. James Hopes was the hero with the ball with 5 wickets, as Ireland were bowled out for only 192 in the 42nd over, handing Australia a 39 run win. Hopes was awarded man of the match for his excellent bowling.
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