India survive early scare as Australia brush Ireland aside
COLOMBO: India and Australia gained full points from their opening matches at the World Twenty20 with contrasting wins against lesser-ranked sides yesterday.
In a double-header in Colombo, Australia brushed aside Ireland by seven wickets in group B, while India survived a scare from fearless Afghanistan before recording a 23-run win.
India, sent in to bat, took advantage of their rivals’ butter-fingered display to recover from a bad start and post 159/5, with Virat Kohli topscoring with 50 off 38 balls.
The Afghans, batting with gay abandon, raced to a comfortable 75/2 in the 12th over before a late collapse saw the non-Test side bowled out for 136 with three balls to spare.
Mohammad Nabi was the star batsman with an aggressive 31 off 17 balls with two boundaries and as many sixes, while Karim Sadiq made 26 and skipper Nawroz Mangal chipped in with 22.
Seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji and left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh claimed three wickets each, and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took two, but India were fortunate to emerge unscathed.
The Afghans continued to attack till the end, but the loss of regular wickets cost them an unlikely win. India will play defending champions England next in Colombo on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Shane Watson pounded Ireland with both bat and ball to ensure that Australia easily cruised through their first match in the competition.
Smashed
Watson grabbed three wickets as Ireland were restricted to 123/7 and then smashed 51 off 30 balls to help Australia surpass the modest total in the 16th over.
Watson, who hit five boundaries and three sixes and claimed a wicket with his first delivery, was named the man of the match.
“We knew how important the game was to make a statement,” he said.
“I had been thinking about how to bowl the first over for about a day, and it worked out nicely.”
Barely 3 000 spectators were present at the 35 000-capacity Premadasa Stadium to watch Australia teach the nonTest nation a cricketing lesson in the first ever T20 clash between the two sides.
Australia, who lost to England in the final of the 2010 World T20 in the Caribbean, had briefly slipped below Ireland in the T20 rankings earlier this month.
The Irish slump started with the first ball of the innings, which skipper William Porterfield hooked down fineleg’s throat to the great delight of bowler Watson. Australia play the West Indies in their final group game in Colombo on Saturday.
Ireland take on the West Indies on Monday. – Sapa-AFP