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20 overs Ireland 123 for 7 (Watson 3-26, Starc 2-20) v Australia
Shane Watson snuffed out a mid-innings resistance from the O'Brien brothers © AFP
Shane Watson struck with the first ball of the match then returned to snuff out a mid-innings revival as Australia restricted Ireland to a modest 123 for 7 in the World Twenty20 group match at Premadasa Stadium.
Mitchell Starc and Brad Hogg also delivering telling spells to help keep the Irish quiet, their 20 overs devoid of sustained momentum save for a rearguard stand of 52 between Kevin and Niall O'Brien from the depths of 33 for 4.
Kevin O'Brien hinted at the mastery he had shown against England at the 2011 World Cup, but both he and his brother were out-thought by Watson in the same over, underlining the allrounder's importance to Australia's bid for the World T20 title.
Watson took the new ball for Australia, a move Ireland's captain William Porterfield would have noted from the warm-up games. What he did not expect was a first-ball bumper, as Watson tested the bounce to be extracted from a flint-hard Premadasa pitch. The ball was well-directed, Porterfield's hook shot was hurried, and Mitchell Starc sauntered in from fine leg to take the catch.
There were runs to be found in the pitch, Paul Stirling cracking the final ball of the over to the cover boundary to prove it, but Australia's bowlers were sharp and varied enough to prevent Ireland from finding any sort of rhythm. Starc found a little swing but it was bounce that did Stirling in, his top edge sailing high for Watson to make a testing running catch look routine.
Australia's captain George Bailey introduced Glenn Maxwell's off breaks for the sixth over, and was rewarded when Ed Joyce toe-ended a drive to mid-off. Brad Hogg's introduction followed, and he too struck in his opening over when Gary Wilson played around a delivery pitching in line and straightening to win Aleem Dar's lbw verdict. None of Ireland's batsmen looked entirely capable of reading Hogg's variations.
Ireland were stuck in the T20 predicament of early wickets, the halfway point passing at a wobbly 46 for 4. The brothers O'Brien were left to fashion a salvaging partnership, Kevin hinting at his potential for destruction with a handful of boundaries.
Bailey's team were clearly at a high pitch of intensity for their opening match, and the delivery of a few choice words by the fielders to the batsmen had the umpire Kumar Dharmasena requesting calmer behaviour. Kevin O'Brien responded to the taunts by clattering Starc through midwicket and cover, and the 50 stand was raised. But Niall was unable to follow suit, bowled by Watson's slower ball when trying to heave across the line.
Watson was delivering a keynote spell, and he made it more so by coaxing Kevin O'Brien to touch a shortish, sharpish delivery on its way through to Matthew Wade. Called on to deliver the last over of the innings as well as the first, Watson allowed the innings' only six to Nigel Jones, but the concession of 12 from the final six balls still left Australia's batsmen with what seems a meagre chase.
Shane Watson snuffed out a mid-innings resistance from the O'Brien brothers © AFP
Shane Watson struck with the first ball of the match then returned to snuff out a mid-innings revival as Australia restricted Ireland to a modest 123 for 7 in the World Twenty20 group match at Premadasa Stadium.
Mitchell Starc and Brad Hogg also delivering telling spells to help keep the Irish quiet, their 20 overs devoid of sustained momentum save for a rearguard stand of 52 between Kevin and Niall O'Brien from the depths of 33 for 4.
Kevin O'Brien hinted at the mastery he had shown against England at the 2011 World Cup, but both he and his brother were out-thought by Watson in the same over, underlining the allrounder's importance to Australia's bid for the World T20 title.
Watson took the new ball for Australia, a move Ireland's captain William Porterfield would have noted from the warm-up games. What he did not expect was a first-ball bumper, as Watson tested the bounce to be extracted from a flint-hard Premadasa pitch. The ball was well-directed, Porterfield's hook shot was hurried, and Mitchell Starc sauntered in from fine leg to take the catch.
There were runs to be found in the pitch, Paul Stirling cracking the final ball of the over to the cover boundary to prove it, but Australia's bowlers were sharp and varied enough to prevent Ireland from finding any sort of rhythm. Starc found a little swing but it was bounce that did Stirling in, his top edge sailing high for Watson to make a testing running catch look routine.
Australia's captain George Bailey introduced Glenn Maxwell's off breaks for the sixth over, and was rewarded when Ed Joyce toe-ended a drive to mid-off. Brad Hogg's introduction followed, and he too struck in his opening over when Gary Wilson played around a delivery pitching in line and straightening to win Aleem Dar's lbw verdict. None of Ireland's batsmen looked entirely capable of reading Hogg's variations.
Ireland were stuck in the T20 predicament of early wickets, the halfway point passing at a wobbly 46 for 4. The brothers O'Brien were left to fashion a salvaging partnership, Kevin hinting at his potential for destruction with a handful of boundaries.
Bailey's team were clearly at a high pitch of intensity for their opening match, and the delivery of a few choice words by the fielders to the batsmen had the umpire Kumar Dharmasena requesting calmer behaviour. Kevin O'Brien responded to the taunts by clattering Starc through midwicket and cover, and the 50 stand was raised. But Niall was unable to follow suit, bowled by Watson's slower ball when trying to heave across the line.
Watson was delivering a keynote spell, and he made it more so by coaxing Kevin O'Brien to touch a shortish, sharpish delivery on its way through to Matthew Wade. Called on to deliver the last over of the innings as well as the first, Watson allowed the innings' only six to Nigel Jones, but the concession of 12 from the final six balls still left Australia's batsmen with what seems a meagre chase.