2022 ICC Men's T20 Cricket World Cup

Ireland did well generally in the field. A 180 chase against the Aussie bowlers looks a tall order. The usually reliable Adair completely lost it as he went for 26 in the 15th, sending down 5 wides, as he tied to react to the batsmen moving around the crease. I would've been tempted to bowl Delaney or even Hand in the 20th over, but the skipper put his trust in Adair, with 2 relatively new batsmen, but it still went or 17 runs.

A brave effort from Ireland, after falling to 25-5. Great knock by Tucker, although he lacked game awareness by not trying to farm the strike in the final overs. Perhaps victory was unlikely, but he was striking it well & maybe had a chance of reaching a century, or at least using the full 20 overs. Hard to criticize the only batsman to make a meaningful contribution. Just another score from the top 5 & they had a chance.
I would still reflect on the figures of Adair, with his 4 overs going for 59. But generally, one bowler has a bad day, Starc started with a double wicket maiden & then conceded 43 in his 3 remaining overs. It's a good comparison, as you can see that Starc would be likely to bowl his full quota, after his wicket taking start, but Adair 42-0 after 3 overs, his brain was still scrambled after a horrendous over, Balbirnie made a bad call expecting him to deliver in the 20th over. He started with a full ball down legside which was easily helped to the boundary & would've been another wide without any contact. He was just repeating the same mistakes.

^You are being far too kind to Ireland Booms. Even allowing for the bowling subsiding near the end (a normal event unfortunately all too often) Australia could not be said to have won that match, Ireland handed it to them!

A target of 180 was eminently getable and given the start to the chase - as Ireland sat at 9 an over after the first two overs, even 24/3 after 3 was a more than decent position to find themselves in, they were in the box seat! Even in T20, you have to couple expansive shots with intelligent game management and recognise that ticking over at a run a ball - or even 4s or 5s is not the end of the world - particularly when you know (or should know) the threat the Aussies pose with the ball, if you unnecessarily 'open the door' for them!

Sitting at 18 - and nine an over (bang on the money) after two overs, it took Stirling and Balbernie to reassess, and understand that, if one of them went as deep as possible (never guaranteed of course) with another chipping in (Tucker did exactly that - a highly intelligent innings) the rest could add the finishing touch! Instead, what did we get??Balbernie was cleaned up, and then Paul 'one gear' Stirling surrendered his wicket to a horrendous shot selection. It was a shame that Campher failed today, but he has been the mainstay of many of Ireland's successes recently, so is allowed one day off with the bat!

The kinds of issues I have highlighted keep happening, and this is not down to technical skill, so I do not know what the answer is for getting Ireland to a place, where the mental side of the game (crucial) is addressed, and hits home just as much as the rest of the skill levels required, and at which Ireland are never too wide of the mark!

Match 32 Group 1 Afghanistan v Sri Lanka - Brisbane (04.00)
Afghanistan elected to bat
AFG 144-8 Gurbaz 28 Ghani 27 Zadran 22 Hasaranga 3-13 Kumara 2-30
SL 128-4 (18.3 overs) Dhananjaya 66 no Mendis 25 Mujeeb 2-24 Rashid Khan 2-31

Match 33 Group 1 England v New Zealand - Brisbane (08.00)
England elected to field
England 179-6 Buttler 73 Hales 52 Livingstone 20 Ferguson 2-45
NZ 159-6 Philips 62 Williamson 40 S Curran 2-26 Woakes 2-33
England won by 20 runs

Win or bust for England me thinks.
No pressure then .

Yikes.

Solid performance from England, and just enough! Probably not the reason, but no surprise that the camera kept panning to K Williamson, as the target got further away from the Kiwis. He is a class player, but he is not a T20 player, and definitely not in his Test position of #3. Yes he scored 40, but at 100 strike rate, it just served to put Phillips and the rest in a strait jacket! If he is going to play, then it surely has to be at #5/6 to guide the innings home - or help to build a rescue mission, with hitters/strike players around and either side of him??

Fabulous innings from Phillips regardless of the outcome (same with Buttler/Hales for England) but actually, NZ had that match (a bit like Ireland with Aus) with a little greater inns management (that old term again - it means so much)

Different set of circumstances, but I would give Ireland a sniff against NZ. Need though to bring their mental game with them, which they left in the dressing room against Aus

NB Don't you find it ironic that England have cost themselves in terms of Moeen Ali giving away a Test career, in preference for T20 ODI, to see him bat at the same position -#3 - in T20 itself?? If he had been employed in this position in tests all along, he may not have walked away from it, and England would have gotten the best from him. I don't think that 3 is where he should be in T20. Again, the ultimate irony to my mind - his test position as it became known, should be his T20 slot??

Sam Curran.
Take.........A..........Bow.

Lord of the death bowlers

Match 34 Netherlands v Zimbabwe - Group 2 - Adelaide (04.00 GMT)
Zimbabwe elected to bat
ZiM 117 (19.2 overs) Raza 40 Williams 28 van Meekeren 3-29 de Leede 2-14 van Beek 2-17 Glover 2-29
NED 120-5 (18 overs) O'Dowd 52 Cooper 32 Ngarava 2-18 Muzarabani 2-23
Netherland won by 5 wickets

Match 35 Bangladesh v India - Group 2 - Adelaide (08.00 GMT)
Bangladesh elected to field
India 184-5 (20 overs) Kohli 64 no Rahul 50 Suryakumar 30 Shakib 2-33 Hasan 3-47
Bangladesh 145-6 (16/16 overs) (T 151) Das 60 Nural 25 no Shant 21 Hardik 2-28 Arsdeep 2-38
India won by 5 wickets (DLS Method)