Aussies beat Irish with ease
But there’s nothing in their play that will frighten Proteas ahead of their upcoming series
Ireland 198 Australia 199/1 Australia won by nine wickets
DESPITE a bowling display that lacked flair and energy, Australia shook off the cobwebs ahead of their five match series against the Proteas with a comfortable win against a lethargic Irish team here yesterday.
Maybe it was just the flat feeling about the occasion – only a smattering of spectators bothered to come through the gates to watch the world champions – but Australia’s start lacked punch, something they will believe won’t be replicated when the intensity is ramped up against South Africa later this week.
The Irish target was never going to be much of a challenge, particularly once Dave Warner had stepped to the fore in typically robust fashion.
Warner looked in excellent touch blasting his way to 48 off just 30 balls that included a pair of sixes and five fours, while Usman Khawaja’s unbeaten 82 off 77 balls, following over two hours at the crease will do his confidence plenty of good after a difficult tour to Sri Lanka.
Steve Smith, who left that tour early to rest as part of a workload management programme, scrubbed off any rustiness in his game with a relaxed 59 not out that included six fours and a six.
“We won, that’s the main thing we got out of the game today,” said Khawaja. “You want to keep reaffirming that feeling because winning is a habit. It will keep us in good stead for those really tight games.”
The Australian bowlers won’t be happy with a performance which saw them serve up 19 wides and generally look like they were going through a glorified training session.
Assistant coach David Saker and Ryan Harris, who is accompanying the squad as a consultant, will undoubtedly want the bowlers to sharpen up over the next few days before the Centurion series opener. When South African batsmen pour over the video analysis from this match, they won’t see anything that should frighten them even in the absence of AB de Villiers.
None of John Hastings, Scott Boland, Mitchell Marsh or the debutant Daniel Worrall produced anything special in terms of pace or swing and the main threat came from leg-spinner Adam Zampa, who picked up 3/37. He displayed good flight and control.
There was little competition from the Irish. Their batsmen wasted the good started provided by openers William Porterfield and Paul Stirling – who shared a stand of 47 – and their bowling looked listless once Warner had punished them early.
Their two performances in this country leave much for their coaching staff to mull over and, sadly for Irish cricket, plenty of time for them to do that mulling. They don’t play again until March next year, when they face Afghanistan in India for three T20 Internationals, five One-Day matches and four-day game.
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