Ellis, Zampa condemn Ireland to crushing defeat

Four-wicket hauls from Nathan Ellis (4 for 12) and Adam Zampa (4 for 23) guided Australia to a comfortable 67-run victory against Ireland in their T20 World Cup opener in Colombo on Wednesday (February 11). Despite none of their batters reaching a 50, Australia posted an above-par score of 182 for 6 at the R Premadasa Stadium, before bowling out Ireland for 115. It was also Travis Head's first win as T20I captain for Australia after regular captain Mitchell Marsh was ruled out due to a testicular injury.

Ireland were dealt an early blow in the chase as captain Paul Stirling walked off after facing only one delivery in what looked to be a pulled hamstring, and didn't come back to bat later on. But a four and a six by Ross Adair in the first over meant that the Irish started off positively. Ross got a reprieve as Matt Renshaw dropped a sitter at point off Matthew Kuhnemann. However, Harry Tector fell to the left-arm spinner for a duck.

Ellis struck with his first delivery with a back of the hand slower ball that completely bamboozled Ross, who lost his middle-stump. The pacer struck again two balls later with the wicket of Curtis Campher as things began to go pear-shaped for Ireland. It got worse as Ellis got Benjamin Calitz to chop-on as Ireland were 27 for 4. Gareth Delany departed to Zampa in the seventh over but George Dockrell (41) and Lorcan Tucker (24) gave the Irish a glimmer of hope with a 46-run stand.

Tucker fell to Zampa trying to clear the mid-wicket boundary before the leggie picked up Dockrell and Mark Adair in his final over. Ellis rounded off the match with a slower-ball to dismiss Barry McCarthy.

Earlier, Travis Head was run-out cheaply for six but Josh Inglis and Cameron Green flexed their muscles, hitting a boundary in every over of the PowerPlay. Inglis even hit three consecutive boundaries off Matthew Humphreys. Green fell off the last ball of the fifth over as he miscued one to mid-wicket, while Dockrell scalped Inglis in the next over, as Stirling took a leaping catch. Glenn Maxwell was dismissed caught behind by part-timer Tector as Australia ended the first 10 overs at 90 for 4. Post that, Ireland conceded only 19 runs from overs 13 to 15.

With boundaries hard to come by, Australia ran the twos hard in the death overs. They ran 11 twos as Marcus Stoinis (45) and Renshaw (37) ensured they didn't get stuck at one end. The 61-run partnership that came off 44 balls was the key towards enabling Australia to unleash the long levers in the last two overs. Xavier Bartlett and Cooper Connolly each unleashed quick 11-run cameos, as Australia ended with a very competitive score - one which eventually proved more than sufficient on a two-paced deck.

Brief Scores: Australia 182/6 in 20 overs (Marcus Stoinis 45, Josh Inglis 37; Mark Adair 2-44, Harry Tector 1-24) beat Ireland 115 in 16.5 overs (George Dockrell 41, Lorcan Tucker 24; Nathan Ellis 4-12, Adam Zampa 4-23) by 67 runs