Expected Lineups | Match Prediction | Australia vs Ireland Match Preview

Expected Lineups | Match Prediction | Australia vs Ireland Match Preview:

Contents

HEAD TO HEAD: WEATHER AND PITCH REPORT:PLAYING XI (PROBABLE): PREDICTION:WHERE TO WATCH:

After a tripleheader on Sunday where 6 teams from the second group encountered each other, the next day will be somewhat less bustling as only one fixture will be played. The contest between Ireland and Australia will be the 31st match of this heart-pounding and action-packed event. Both, Australia and Ireland, have three points next to their names. Though, both of the said teams have negative NRR, unexpectedly the NRR of the Irish is more than the hosts, Australia.

The hosts, Australia, have only won one match in the mega event as of yet. With the battle for the semi-finals being still on, Aussies are busy calculating their prospects of reaching the next round. One thing remains clear among all the ifs and buts, that Finch-led men need to succeed in all of their remaining fixtures to board on the train to the semis. Their next opponents will be Ireland and Afghanistan. In any other case, the Aussies would easily have been the favourites in these encounters, however, keeping in mind the way both Ireland and Afghanistan have fought during the tournament, things can deviate from the predictions.

Their historic victory over England gave the Irish a boost which rejuvenated their hopes to stay in the race. The rain which helped them triumph over their neighbours played devil in their next encounter against Afghanistan, where they were very much hoping to seize two more points before rain washed the game out. Ireland’s team resides just above Australia in the table, with a marginally better NRR. For all we know, this slight difference may help them in gaining an entry to the next round.

HEAD TO HEAD:

Australia and Ireland have faced each other in a single T20I match. The kangaroos were the winners in that match, which means Ireland is yet to defeat the Australian men in T20Is.

WEATHER AND PITCH REPORT:

The chance of rain in Brisbane is only 10%. However, the clouds will be hiding the sun along with light winds keeping the weather cold.

Thus far in the mega competition, the Gabba has only hosted one match, which was played between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. The pitch here promises true bounce and making inference from what we have seen in today’s match, between Chevrons and the Bengal Tigers at the Gabba, the pacers thrive here. The hitherto off-colour Mustafizur Rehman dismissed 2 players and conceded only 15 runs in 4 overs. Similarly, Taskin Ahmed, Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava were not only economical during their spells but also made sure to send players back to the pavilion. This owes a lot to the generous amount of bounce the pitch of the Gabba offers. More specifically during the initial overs when the ball is new, pacers are aided by the pitch in restricting the run flow as well as dismissing the batsmen.

The bounce of the hard surfaced pitch assists the batters as well who love the way the ball comes to the bat. The boundaries are huge, with the exception of the straight boundary. Thus, the bowlers should try to stop batsmen from targeting that side.

PLAYING XI (PROBABLE):

Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

Ireland: Paul Stirling, Andy Balbirnie (c), Lorcan Tucker (wk), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Fionn Hand, Barry McCarthy, Josh Little.

PREDICTION:

The host side and the title defenders, Australia surely have more chances of bagging the victory against the Balbirnie-led men.

Australia’s lethal pace trio, assisted by the bounce of the Gabba, have the ability to blow the Irish batting lineup to pieces. Furthermore, the batting lineup of the Aussies is quite strong and would love to help their team home in this do-or-die match.

The Irish bowlers will surely have a difficult time bowling to them. The Aussies, however, will need to be watchful of not giving the Irish any chances of causing an upset in the game. The top-order of the Ireland team must be dismantled in the initial stages by the Australian pacers to further bolster their chances of winning the game.