- Australia win by 42 runs
Skipper Aaron Finch led from the front with a 44-ball 63 as Australia overcame a slow start to post a challenging 179 for five against 'giant-killers' Ireland in their must-win T20 World Cup clash here on Monday.
Struggling for runs, Finch brilliantly switched gears to a 38-ball 50 -- his first T20 International century in eight innings -- as he took charge in the middle with Marcus Stoinis (35) in an entertaining 70-run partnership that came off just 36 balls.
But the skipper, however, could not finish well and became Irish pacer Barry McCarthy's third victim in the 17th over as the defending champions struggled to get going at the death, falling some 15-20 runs short.
Left-arm spinner George Dockrell (4-0-24-0) conceded just three runs in the 18th over, while left-arm pacer Josh Little (4-0-21-2) also finished well, dismissing Stoinis and giving away just four runs in the penultimate over.
McCarthy was the pick of the Irish bowlers, returning with 3/29 including the wickets of David Warner (3) and Mitchell Marsh (28) who looked ominous with a 102-metre six but only to fall for 22-ball 28.
But the Aussies managed to get going in the final over with Tim David hitting two boundaries en route to 10-ball 15 to push the total.
Chasing a big win to keep their semi-final hopes alive, the reigning champions were off to a cautious start as Warner once again fell cheaply.
The star Aussie opener perished to a short ball strategy by Barry McCarthy and holed out at short fine-leg to continue his woeful run in the T20 World Cup.
The left-hander now has scores of 5, 11 and 3 from three matches in the ongoing T20 showpiece.
The Teams:
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (w), Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (c), Paul Stirling, Lorcan Tucker (w), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Fionn Hand and Joshua Little.
