Rusty Australia struggle to beat Ireland

Australia 231 for 9 (T Paine 81) beat Ireland 192 (J Hopes 5-14) by 39 runs, one off ODI at Dublin.

It should have been a comfortable reintroduction to cricket for the Australians after a few months off, but it didn't quite work out that way, despite the homely atmosphere (when did Ricky Ponting last shave before stepping onto the field?) , the absence of a third umpire, and a beer snake as long as I can recall seeing. There was TV coverage here (Foxtel relayed the Setanta live coverage and showed generous highlights at a civilised hour) so I feel able to offer some comments

While the final margin looked comfortable enough, by ODI standards Ireland didn't just roll over gracefully. Had they not lost 6/19 when they still seemed to have a slight chance the game might have lasted a bit longer but at least there was a last wicket stand with some beer match biffing to give the spectators and the Ireland team some further consolation.

Ireland rely on a few key players: their bowling is quite good, their fielding variable and their batting...OK, check the scorecard.

For Australia Tim Paine's sometimes fluent sometimes laboured 81/122 (5x4, 2x6) underpinned a reasonable if below par total. But it was of course James Hopes' 5/14 from 9 overs which settled the issue (and probably a few Australian stomachs).

The ODI series v England begins in a few days... on the evidence of this match perhaps too soon for Australia's liking. There is work to be done.

Sri Lanka bat for 10 overs to defeat Ireland

12 wickets fell for 158 runs in 38.4 overs as Sri Lanka crushed Ireland by 8 wickets at Grenada.

Sent in by Sri Lanka, Ireland's openers briefly flickered before they and the rest of the team were snuffed out by Farveez Maharoof (10-3-25-4) and Muttiah Muralitharan (5-0-19-4).
Sri Lanka wanted an early lunch and , while Upal Tharanga didn't trouble the scorers, the three others who batted did. Captain Jayawardene (39 no/27b) led his team home at a Ten/10 pace (is the the next form of the game?) as they passed the target with the last ball of the 10th over.

As we've come to expect from them, S Rajesh and H R Gopalakrishna 's Cricinfo stats report mines the orebody of material which is there for the quarrying in matches as one sided as this one.

Scorecard

Another game, another win for Australia...

Yes, as expected Australia did defeat Ireland , and by 9 wickets, a margin which was not surprising given that Australia won the toss and, as Worldcupspeak now puts it, "chose to field".

The match was all over before the lunch (or between innings) break, and I've heard some comments to the effect that Australia, who won the toss, should have batted. As if it was an exhibition match...

No Irish batter looked like staying long enough to compile a half decent score, even though some of the Australian bowling was a tad ragged. Tait, the main offender, compensated for a reversion to his pre-tournament waywardness with some very quick deliveries which clearly distressed the Irish by taking two wickets in successive balls at the start of his second over and a third later. Glenn McGrath (7-1-17-3) was, well, Glenn McGrath 2001 vintage. There was no recovery from 3/2, 4/12, 5/32 and so on, despite some resolute defence and a few bold strokes from the lower order as the total crawled to 91 all out from 30 overs.

Australia promoted Michael Hussey to open with Adam Gilchrist. While the latter was his characteristic self (34/25b), Hussey (30 no/45b) didn't always look comfortable early on, but eventually came good, bringing the game to an early finish with a pulled 6 over midwicket.

Australia are now confirmed semi-finalists. Who will join them in the top four remains to be determined. Sri Lanka have an easier run home, while England, New Zealand and South Africa will most probably contest the last two places.

Scorecard

TV commentary

Mark Taylor and Ian Healy in the Channel Nine Studio in Australia are collectively much better than the grab bag of commentators who provide most of the (Fox Sports?) TV feed commentary. Tony Cozier, who revealed that his son is working as part of the production team and that the media centre at the ground is named after his late father (and two others), and Mark Nicholas are good but many of the others are conspicuous only by their silence or blandness.

Kiwis fruit, Ireland withers

New Zealand defeated Ireland by 129 runs with 74 balls to spare in their Super Eight fixture at Guyana. Peter Fulton's 83/110b held the NZ innings together early. He was fifth out at 176; shortly afterwards Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori followed him making the score 7/189 in the 43rd over. Brendon McCullum (47/37b)and James Franklin (34 n o /22b) demonstrated the depth of the Black Caps' batting and hit out, adding 45 from the last three overs, to take the total to a healthy 8/263.

This was well beyond the reach of Ireland, who struggled against Shane Bond (2/18), Daniel Vettori (4/23) and Jeetan Patel (2/32). Kevin O'Brien (49/45b) fought, but the middle order and tail threw in the towel, losing 6/9 to the Black Cap spinners. A comfortable, and not unexpected win, to New Zealand though Ireland's performance at the end of each innings made the gap between the sides look larger than it had done for much of the match.

Scorecard

Pattern repeated as South Africa defeat Ireland

After the shocks of the Group Stage the Super Eight series is following a pattern of (1) rain, (2) team winning toss puts opposition in and (3) stronger side wins regardless. Today was no exception as South Africa defeated Ireland by 7 wickets in a 35 overs a side match decided according to the Duckworth-Lewis method.

Ireland made a half respectable 8/152 (Shaun Pollock 2/17 at last returning good figures, Charl Langeveldt 3/41 and Andrew Hall 2/37). Jacques Kallis 66 n o /86b, Graham Smith 41/45b and Ashwell Prince 47 n o/44b saw the Proteas home comfortably.

Scorecard.

England beat Ireland comfortably, but not decisively

The England v Ireland Super Eight match was played at Providence Stadium which is, as Michael Atherton said to a well-nourished Ian Botham during a lull in their TV commentary stint, located amid anaconda infested fields in the Guyanese countryside.

England won the toss, batted and initially struggled against some keen Irish bowling and fielding. England's Irishman Ed Joyce left a ball from Rankin pass by and bowl him, while Michael Vaughan was caught behind from the same bowler off a ball which moved away just enough to take the edge. 2/23 in the 6th over was not a good start, but Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen improved the position without putting their side in control. Bell was out at 89 for 31 in a very slow 74b; Pietersen was more aggressive but when he was caught from offspinner Kyle McCallan for 48/47b the total was only 4/113 and 26.3 overs had been bowled.

Andrew Flintoff joined Paul Collingwood and the two gradually wrested the initiative from the Ireland, whose attack was reminiscent of New Zealand's in the days when it relied upon the likes of Chris Harris and Gavin Larsen. The English pair added 81 in 106b before Flintoff was out for, by his standards, a slow and not always confident looking 43/62b. Paul Nixon (19/15b) put on 50/ 28b with Collingwood, who looked set for a century before he was run out for 90/82b (8x4, 3x6). The game got away from Ireland a little as England hit out in the last 6 overs to reach 7/266 from their 50 overs.

Ireland, like England, started badly, stumbling to 2/11 as James Anderson had their star batsman Jeremy Bray caught for a duck and Sajjid Mahmood ran out Eoin Morgan. Niall O'Brien joined William Porterfield at the crease. They hung on, but the England bowlers, taking their cue perhaps from the anacondas in the vicinity, constricted the scoring. Porterfield was out in the 19th over for 31/68b when the score was 72, Andre Botha (18/39b) at 116 and the brothers O'Brien (Niall 63/88b, Kevin 12/19b) at 139. Skipper Trent Johnston (27/21b)and Andrew White (38/35b) accelerated the tempo and for a short time a close finish looked possible, but Flintoff cut through the lower order quickly leaving England victors by 48 runs.

Scorecard.

England were clearly the better side on the day, yet so they should have been, given Ireland's lack of experience of top class international cricket. England's top order batting is inconsistent while its attack hasn't been as penetrative as it might be, and of course it's labouring under the handicap of not bringing forward any points from the preliminary round. On the evidence of this match they don't look potential finalists, but then only a couple of months ago in Australia they looked even worse, yet they were able to lift and take advantage of some slender opportunites and win that tournament.

India disappoint and are disappointed: World Cup day 11

In the Group B match at Port of Spain India won the toss and sent Sri Lanka in. 6/254 from 50 overs (Upal Tharanga 64/90b, Chamara Silva 59/68b) was a good score, but not beyond India with its (on paper at least) strong batting line up.

It didn't turn out that way. A promising start was checked by Chaminda Vaas, who took the first two wickets, and Dilhara Fernando, who bowled Sachin Tendulkar for 0: 3/44. Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid steadied the ship until the total reached 98, when Muttiah Murilitharan took the first of his three wickets: Sehwag 48/46 b. Yuvraj Singh was run out at 112, M S Dhoni didn't trouble the scorers, while Ajit Agarkar, who needed to stay with Dravid to help refocus the innings, was out for 10, making it 6/137 . When Dravid was caught in the deep by Murali off Jayasuriya for 60/82b it was 8/159 and all over for India, not just for the match but almost certainly for the tournament.

India will now probably follow Pakistan back to the sub-continent much earlier than they'd hoped, leaving Sri Lanka, a form team, and Bangladesh, who have made the most of their abilities, to represent their region in the Super 8 stage. Sri Lanka are very strong candidates for a semi-final place: they bat down the order and have a varied attack built around Chaminda Vaas and, of course, Murali.


Scorecard.

In the Group B match at Kingston, West Indies, who have surprised many observers with their commitment, easily defeated Ireland (their first loss of the tournament) in a Duckworth-Lewis result. Ireland won the toss and batted, but were all out for 183 in 48 overs (Jeremy Bray 41/72b the best, with six others getting to double figures and five WI bowlers sharing the wickets).

The West Indian reply was built around Shivnarine Chanderpaul's 102 no/113b. Brian Lara didn't need to bat as his team only lost two wickets (and little time) in knocking off the runs in 38.1 overs, ie with 59 balls to spare.

Despite their drubbing by the West Indies, Ireland have qualified for the Super 8 stage. Their next match will be against the winner of today's Australia v South Africa game. That should be a reality check for them of an even higher order than they've had thus far.

Scorecard.

Upsets embarrass India and Pakistan: World Cup Day 5

Two unexpected results have elevated the Group Stage of the World Cup from a series of practice matches for the major teams into a serious competition.

Bangladesh are a test playing country but their record in both test and one day cricket has been poor. India have, at least on paper, a strong team and have, until now, been touted as possible Cup winners, so it was surprising to see them bowled out for 191 in 49.3 overs at Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain . Only Sourav Ganguly 66/129b and Yuvraj Singh 47/58b put up a strong fight against the economical Bangladesh attack, for whom opening bowler Mashrafe Mortaza (9-2-38-4) and the two left arm spinners Abdur Razzak (10-2-38-3) and Mohammad Rafique (10-2-35-3) were outstanding.

191 was something for India to defend against the often brittle Bangladesh batting, but while they fought hard they couldn't stop three teenagers, opener Tamim Iqbal 51/53b, Mushfiqur Rahim (who was dropped behind on 8), 56/107b and Saqibul Hasan 53/86b from getting them home by 5 wickets with 9 balls to spare. A magnificent win for the underdogs, who had only just heard the news of the death of Manjural Islam , killed in a road accident at home, and at 22 the youngest test cricketer to die.

Scorecard.

At Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica Ireland won the toss and put Pakistan in. At first the innings followed a roughly similar course to India's: two early wickets, then a small recovery. But the Irish bowlers kept their heads: the third wicket fell at 56, the fourth (Inzamam for 1) at 58, the fifth at 66 and the sixth at 72. Kamran Akmal made 27 /47b but this wasn't the highest score of the innings: that distinction went to extras with 29, including 23 wides.

Ireland got off to a bad start: 2/15 (including Jeremy Bray, the hero of the Zimbabwe match) but William Porterfield dug in while Niall O'Brien looked for runs. Porterfield was out at 62, and a fourth wicket fell at 70. Kevin O'Brien joined his brother but rain stopped play with Ireland 4/81 after 27.3 overs.

The delay meant that the Duckworth-Lewis method was invoked, and Ireland was left a revised target of 128 from 47 overs when play resumed. At 108 Niall O'Brien was stumped for 72/107b. Two further wickets fell at 113 and Pakistan seemed to have a good chance of redemption. But it wasn't to be as Kevin O'Brien 16/52b hung in while Australian born captain Trent Johnston didn't wait around , hitting a six to give his team a magnificent and well-deserved victory. And on St Patrick's Day too.

Scorecard.

Pakistan have now lost their two Group Stage matches so have no hope of qualifying for the Super Eight series. They will not look forward to going home earlier than they, and almost everyone else in the cricket world, expected, not just because they'll be shattered but because they'll receive a hostile reception from their supporters.

India can redeem themselves, but to be sure of doing so will need to defeat Bermuda (a genuine minnow) and Sri Lanka (a much tougher proposition). Not impossible but, on recent form, not probable either.

Ireland and Zimbabwe tie: World Cup Day 3

If the media reaction is anything to go by, many people were surprised that Ireland tied with Zimbabwe at Kingston, Jamaica. To be sure, as Irish people might say, ties are rare in all forms of cricket but, given all the troubles which are corroding Zimbabwe , was this result (or an Ireland victory) really unexpected? Zimbabwe cricket's ranks have been thinned by departures of players, such as the Flower brothers and Henry Olonga, who have found themselves at odds with both cricketing and political officialdom (which appear to be almost synonymous). On the other hand Ireland has adopted a policy of inclusion, which was vindicated in this game when expat Australian Jeremy Bray batted through the innings for an undefeated 115/137b out of a total of 9/221 in 50 0vers. Zimbabwe made 10/221, also in 50 overs: for scorecard see here.

Both teams now have to play Pakistan and West Indies in their remaining Group D matches. It's hard to imagine another upset, so the moral uplift of third place on the group table may be decided on run rate, or whatever is used to determine these things (Reminder to myself: check it out).

In the other game, from Group B, Sri Lanka defeated Bermuda by 243 runs in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago . I've nothing further to say about this drubbing.