Story Ireland Summer 2013: NZ Test - McCullum ton

Since the first ODI wwent Australia's way in Malahide

Mistake Mate
 
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Wilson Woes Put Ireland 2-0 Down

After being set such a massive total by the Australians, it would have been easy for Ireland to roll over and accept defeat, but they did anything but. Captain Porterfield opened the batting with Paul Stirling, and Porterfield immediately released the shackles with a string of classy drives to the fence. At the other end, Stirling was his usual positive self, and the hosts managed to climb up to the asking rate from the start. As the innings approached ten overs, the score eased past fifty with young Pat Cummins erring off line too often to be really threatening.

It was somewhat against the run of play when Ireland lost their captain to a seaming delivery from Clint McKay, but he was replaced by former England captain Ed Joyce. Often maligned for slow scoring, he looked at the peak of his game today and picked the gaps in the field well. At the other end, Stirling was just looking better and better, and he started to lay waste to the Australian seamers. Australia might regret not coming into this match with a full time spinner because Stirling took something of a liking to Michael Clarke's part-time tweakers.

It was a disappointment when Joyce feathered a wide ball from Pattinson to Matthew Wade and became the second batsman caught at the wicket, but his dismissal introduced a determined looking Niall O'Brien to the innings. He and Stirling proceeded to thrash the bowling to all parts. So savage was their attack that at one stage Peter Forrest was called into the attack to calm things down.

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Try as he might, Gary Wilson couldn't get the ball off the square and it cost his team the game.​
It was an enormous turning point in the game when Cummins claimed Stirling's wicket because it brought Wilson to the crease. From the start he looked extremely scrratchy and couldn't get the ball near the middle of the bat. Clearly, all responsibility to score runs was set to fall on the O'Brien brothers.

Niall fell in full flight at 42 when Clarke clung on at backward point as much to save his own life as to take a wicket, and he was replaced by his in form brother. KOB, as he is universally known, did his best to keep up with the rate by scoring at over a run a ball, but when you are only scoring from one end it isn't enough. O'Brien passed his second successive fifty with an over or so left, but Ireland still fell short of their target. It should be noted that if Wilson had scored at a run a ball, we would have seen a 1-1 scoreline from the series. Instead, it's on to the Test match. See you in Dublin.
Code:
IRELAND innings

Player              Status                        Runs  Blls  4s   6s    S/R
William Porterfield c. Wade        b. McKay        32    29    3    0  110.3%
Paul Stirling       c. Christian   b. Cummins      72    87    8    1   82.8%
Ed Joyce            c. Wade        b. Pattinson    31    33    3    0   93.9%
Niall O'Brien       c. Clarke      b. Pattinson    42    33    7    0  127.3%
Gary Wilson         not out                        30    69    2    0   43.5%
Kevin O'Brien       not out                        56    53    7    1  105.7%
Alex Cusack          
John Mooney          
Trent Johnston       
George Dockrell      
Boyd Rankin          
 
 Total:  281/4       Overs:  50.0          Run Rate:  5.62      Extras:  18    
  
                                     -X-

AUSTRALIA Bowling

Player               Overs   Mdns    Runs   Wkts      E/R    Wds    NBs
James Pattinson      10.0      0      48      2      4.80     2      0 
Pat Cummins          10.0      0      56      1      5.60     0      0 
Dan Christian         8.0      0      36      0      4.50     0      1 
Shane Watson          5.0      0      33      0      6.60     1      0 
Michael Clarke        2.0      0      14      0      7.00     1      0 
Clint McKay           9.0      0      50      1      5.56     0      1 
David Hussey          4.0      2      12      0      3.00     0      0 
David Warner          1.0      0      14      0     14.00     0      0 
Peter Forrest         1.0      0       6      0      6.00     0      0 
 
 
EXTRAS           Wides: 4      No Balls: 2      Leg Byes: 8      Byes: 4
 
Ireland could have won that! They were assisted by a drunk Michael Clarke too. :p So far yet so close, but Cricsim Wilson had other ideas.
 
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Preview: Ireland v. Australia Test Match

So, this is it. Ireland's first ever Test match. After years of dominance in the Intercontinental Cup with what really was a second XI, the Irish will finally be able to let loose against a full strength Full Member. Many Irish players have county experience, and some that don't also have exemplary First Class stats. On the other hand, Australia were for a long time the strongest Test side in the world, and even now they will be extremely hard to beat, even for established Full Members.

The details for the Test match are as follows:

June 20th-24th
Ireland v. Australia - Test match at Clontarf, Dublin


There are changes to both squads after the ODI series. Australia will be looking to Peter Siddle for pace and aggression with the new ball. With well over a hundred Test wickets at an average of under thirty, including a hat-trick and five five wicket hauls, he certainly has the pedigree to succeed, and the main question will be whether the Clontarf wicket suits his hit-the-deck brand of bowling.

Ireland will expece Andrew White to do well for them. Despite being one of the few Irish players now without a county team, he had a spell with Northamptonshire and possesses the best First Class record in the Irish squad. The off-spinning all rounder can lay claim to a colossal batting average of 56.76, as well as the ability to take useful wickets with his bowling. Ireland will hope that his steadfast defence won't be breached by the Aussie quicks.

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Andrew White's steady batting will be central to Ireland's strategy.​

The full squads are as follows:

Ireland (Form: -)
Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Ed Joyce, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien, William Porterfield (captain), Boyd Rankin, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Andrew White, Gary Wilson

There were a couple of surprises in the Irish squad, with Mooney and Murtagh making way for Albert van der Merwe. However, the team looks like it will be a strong one, and most importantly, a competitive one.

Australia (Form: WDWLD)
George Bailey, Michael Clarke (captain), Ed Cowan, Pat Cummins, Ben Hilfenhaus, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Shane Watson

The Australian Test squad has a very different feel to the One-Day team. There is much more emphasis on players like Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon who have been proven successful at Test level, while Usman Khawaja also finding a place on his recent domestic form.
 
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It's a huge moment for Ireland, even if it's in-story. I would say that there will no doubt be a lot of nerves for Ireland...but it's just a game.

I expect Australia to be too much for Ireland, but at the same time Ireland have enough on paper to give the Aussies a good fight. My prediction is that Ireland lose, but they fight every step of the way.

Excellent preview, and I'm looking forward to the match.
 
I don't expect a miraculous win from the Irishmen but, hopefully they will be competitive enough to make Aussies earn the win. Go Irish!
 
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Khawaja Vigil Rescues Australia

When they won the toss and bowled, all the discussion was about the make-up of Ireland's bowling attack. Reliable Trent Johnston had been left out for a second spinner in the form of Albert van der Merwe. With this in mind, why wouldn't Ireland want to bat first and make use of the extra rough? It seemed like a blunder from Will Porterfield. The batting side's middle order has a distinctly fresh look to it, with Khawaja at three and George Bailey slotting in at six for their comeback and debut matches respectively.

Warner and Cowan started calmly against the pace of Boyd Rankin and KOB, Warner scoring freely while Cowan was more circumspect at the other end. The pair stuck together for fifteen overs, but when Cowan played slightly early against van der Merwe, the old adage that one brings two held firm: with the score still on 67, Warner played all around a leg-cutter and got trapped right in front of his stumps.

The two new batsmen, Clarke and Khawaja, set about rebuilding the innings at all costs, and their stoic stonewalling partnership added 76 before Clarke was dismissed for 27 of them when Boyd Rankin got him to edge a rising ball to slip. Shane Watson, in his new number five role, didn't last long either before van der Merwe got the better of him with a classic arm-ball. The pitch was none too convincing either, and scoring stayed resolutely below three runs per over, boring most of the crowd to death, but providing the true cricket nuts with a fascinating battle between bat and ball.

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Usman Khawaja stonewalled, staying at the crease like a barnacle on a boat.​
George Bailey was unlucky to fall LBW to a shooter from Boyd Rankin as he started to get on top of the bowling, and Khawaja's new partner Matthew Wade saw the tourists through to stumps. Khawaja was finally prized from the crease in the second over of the morning, falling short of his maiden Test hundred. Albert van der Merwe claimed his third scalp in the form of Matthew Wade, and then the tail folded giving George Dockrell, Paul Stirling and Kevin O'Brien their maiden Test wickets.

After the first day, van der Merwe had said, "We kept doing the things that got us where we are now. Today, it was Boyd and myself that got the wickets, but everyone gave 100% and we didn't let ourselves down at all."
Code:
AUSTRALIA 1st innings

Player              Status                        Runs  Blls  4s   6s    S/R
David Warner        lbw            b. Cusack       38    44    7    1   86.4%
Ed Cowan            c. White       b. Merwe        24    45    5    0   53.3%
Usman Khawaja       lbw            b. Rankin       92   251   18    0   36.7%
Michael Clarke      c. Stirling    b. Rankin       27   115    4    1   23.5%
Shane Watson        c. Wilson      b. Merwe        13    29    2    0   44.8%
George Bailey       lbw            b. Rankin       25    49    5    0   51.0%
Matthew Wade        c. Porte'ield  b. Merwe        23    83    4    0   27.7%
Peter Siddle        c. Wilson      b. K O'Brien     8    11    2    0   72.7%
Nathan Lyon                        b. Stirling      6    28    1    0   21.4%
Ben Hilfenhaus      c. Wilson      b. Dockrell      2     7    0    0   28.6%
James Pattinson     not out                         8    22    2    0   36.4%
 
 Total:  278/10       Overs:  113.5        Run Rate:  2.44     Extras:  12 
  
                                     -X-

IRELAND Bowling

Player                Overs   Mdns    Runs   Wkts      E/R    Wds    NBs
Boyd Rankin           23.0      6      81      3      3.52     0      1 
Kevin O'Brien         16.0      5      34      1      2.13     0      0 
Alex Cusack           19.0      7      41      1      2.16     0      1 
Albert van der Merwe  22.0      9      43      3      1.95     1      1 
George Dockrell       21.0      7      43      1      2.05     0      0 
Paul Stirling          7.5      3      16      1      2.04     0      0 
Andrew White           5.0      2      12      0      2.40     0      0 


 EXTRAS          Wides: 1      No Balls: 3      Leg Byes: 4      Byes: 4
 
Wow, that's some low score there by the Australians. Well done to the Irish bowlers. Well done coach, writing is top notch!
 
Whoa. I never expected the Aussies to be bowled out for under 300. But that surely must mean that the pitch has a few demons in it. I hope the Irish can use their leprechaun luck against the Tasmanian devils in the pitch!
 

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