- Australian Team defeated Ireland by 42 runs
- Tucker’s unbeaten 71 couldn’t help Ireland win a third T20 World Cup title
- Ireland were in danger of annihilation after losing five wickets for seven runs in 13 balls
Lorcan Tucker set up Ireland’s win over England in Melbourne last week. After sabotaging England’s chances of reaching the semi-finals, Tucker helped revive England’s campaign by overcoming Australia’s pace attack and Ireland’s 26-5 score.
Tucker’s unbeaten 71 couldn’t help Ireland win a third T20 World Cup title. It cut Australia’s lead to 42 runs. It kept England’s net run rate above Australia’s, helping them reach the final four.
If England can overcome their nervousness and win their two remaining matches against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, Australia must beat Afghanistan in their final match in Adelaide. England’s match against Sri Lanka is the group’s penultimate game, so they’ll know the net run rate permutations.
Thus, if England followed the Gabba, they would be more confident about qualifying in the start than at the conclusion. Three players—captain Aaron Finch, Tim David, and Marcus Stoinis—left the pitch, compounding Australia’s displeasure. On Tuesday, all three will get scans but are anticipated to play Afghanistan.
As their top order collapsed in pursuit of 180, 137 all out seemed like unthinkable riches for Ireland. Succumbing to Mitchell Starc’s deadly swing, especially because he only entered the attack in the fourth over, was one thing. But Ireland will regret their Powerplay disaster. After an immaculate pull from Josh Hazlewood, Andrew Balbirnie stepped over to Pat Cummins to expose all three stumps. In the third over, off spinner Glenn Maxwell bowled to an Irish line-up of right-handers, and Paul Stirling and Harry Tector over-eagerly took him down, missing tame drives.
Ireland were in danger of annihilation after losing five wickets for seven runs in 13 balls. The pair took 5-50 from eight overs by alternating short deliveries with fuller balls. Australia only scored against Mark Adair, who gave up 26 in one over. Without McCarthy’s brilliant flick back from the boundary rope to transform a six into a two, that over would have fetched 30. He fell flat on his back, getting praise from Australia’s spectators and players for giving his all to this World Cup.
As their collapse indicated, Ireland’s batting is not as resilient as a decade ago, when they could deploy Ed Joyce and the O’Briens in their middle order. Tucker has become a reliable T20 international number three since Ireland left him out of their T20 World Cup XI last year. Tucker is averaging 43.4 and striking out 137 in 16 games. He improved this year.
Tucker’s most satisfying innings were losses. Despite Australia’s new ball attack, he drove and ramped. Tucker got 35 off 18 balls against Starc, one of Australia’s best white-ball bowlers. Tucker leads the 2022 T20 World Cup in scoring after the first stage and Super 12s. Ireland thanked him; now England does too.
Australia complete a fine win to keep semi-final hopes alive 💪#T20WorldCup | #AUSvIRE | 📝: https://t.co/CW4eQlDZGZ pic.twitter.com/WdUP4gLfZE
— ICC (@ICC) October 31, 2022
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