T20 WC: Big win for Aussies

Brisbane : A half-century from captain Aaron Finch followed by fiery bowling from bowlers helped Australia bundled out Ireland for 137 and clinch the 42-run victory in their Group 1, Super 12 match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup in Brisbane on Monday.Lorcan Tucker scored the highest for Ireland with an unbeaten 71 off 48 balls. For Australia Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc and Adam Zampa bagged two wickets each.Defending a competitive target of 180, Australia got off to a flying start as the bowlers dismissed both Ireland openers, Paul Stirling and captain Andy Balbirnie cheaply.Balbirnie went back to the pavilion as Pat Cummins delivered a stunning bowl to bowl out Ireland’s opener while Glenn Maxwell removed star batter Stirling in the third over of the game. In the same third over Maxwell struck again as he dismissed new batter Harry Tector for 6 off 4.In the 4th over of the game, Mitchell Starc gave a double blow to Ireland as he sent Curtis Campher and George Dockrell packing, leaving Ireland tottering at 25/5. The top order of the Ireland batting order was destroyed within the powerplay.Lorcan Tucker and Gareth Delany hammered Starc for 14 runs in the 6th over of the innings to ease some pressure from their team. The Irish duo kept piling runs while gathering singles at regular intervals.However, Delany could not stand long on the ground as he was dismissed by Marcus Stoinis after scoring 14 runs off 10 deliveries. Tucker opened his hands and slammed Starc for 12 runs in the 12th over of the innings.Adam Zampa then gave Ireland another blow as he removed Mark Adair for 11 off 11 in the 13th over of the innings. After this Ireland kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The right-handed batter Barry McCarthy then came to bat on the crease.Tucker brought up his half-century with a 98m six on the delivery of Josh Hazlewood in the 16th over of the innings. Tucker continued his aggressive form as he slammed Australian bowlers all around the ground.Starc delivered a massive over as he conceded 18 runs with Tucker hammering him for three stunning fours. Cummins then delivered a slower short-of-length delivery to remove batter McCarthy for three off 7.The last batter Joshua Little then came out to bat but could not do much as he was run out by Mitchell Marsh/Maxwell and handed a big 42-run win to Australia.Earlier, A calculated half-century from captain Aaron Finch and his quickfire partnership with all-rounder Marcus Stoinis powered Australia to a competitive 179/5 in their 20 overs.Finch (63) and Stoinis (35) had a 70-run stand for the fourth wicket after the Aussies were left at 84/3 in the second half of the innings. Barry McCarthy (3/29) was the star of the bowlers for the Irish.