Warner was named Man of the Match for his knock of 84
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Australia opener David Warner and debutant Joe Burns scored 84 and 69 respectively to lead the Baggy Greens to a 23-run win via the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-affected showdown against Ireland in Belfast.
Australia captain Steven Smith would have been thrilled with his decision to bat first as Warner and Burns got the Baggy Greens off to a strong start with a 139-run partnership.
Burns was the first to go, scoring a career-best 69 off 70 balls, which included seven boundaries and a six. Warner followed a short while later after having made 84 off 80 deliveries, which included seven boundaries and three sixes.
Burns scored 69 on debut
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
However, after Burns and Warner were back in the pavilion, Australia’s middle order began to collapse amidst the regular rain interruptions.
Australia eventually ended up making 222/6 off 40.2 overs before the rain returned once again.
Tim Murtagh was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, while Craig Young, John Mooney, Stuart Thompson and Andy McBrine chipped in with one wicket apiece.
After a delay of an hour and 45 minutes, it was confirmed that Ireland would be chasing 195 off 27 overs to win. However, that was soon changed to 181 from 24 overs after a brief rain delay.
However, the hosts were unable to see out their full 24 overs as wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien and Ed Joyce were the only two batsmen that didn’t fail to fire as they scored 45 and 44 respectively.
The only other batsman that surpassed the 20-run mark was Thompson, who made 24. Keeping that in mind, it came as no surprise when Ireland fell short of their target as they were skittled out for 157.
Nathan Coulter-Nile was the most successful bowler with three wickets, while Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Glenn Maxwell claimed two wickets each.
Ireland captain William Porterfield was gutted to have lost the match, and said: “We fought back after the first 8 overs, and took wickets to claw ourselves back which was the best fightback of the day. Especially after losing two wickets, we fought back well but lots of pleasing things to take away from this game.”
Smith was pleased with his team’s performance, and said: “Conditions were quite weird today with the weather but I thought Warner and Burns set us up nicely. We kept taking wickets in the middle which helped us get through.”
Warner was named Man of the Match, and said: “Helps when the white ball isn’t swinging as much as the red ball. We were a bit rusty today but we got through in the end.”