WORLD CUP T20 Ireland v Australia

Ireland 4-1 after 1st over

29-3 after 6 overs

Come home the feck ya useless shower 38-4

46-4 after 10 overs Eoin Morgan i bet is in his hotel p""sing himself with laughter

Leave it to the O'Briens to salvage something . . .

Oh dear a row has kicked off, One of the Aussies is slegeding Kevin O Brien this 5 minutes and he's had enough of it, i bet he said "Oi Skip, see you in the dressing room" Umpire just stepped in to have a word with the Aussie

76-4 for 4 Kevin O'Brien 31 what a price he was at 6/1

ANother 4 for Kevin 81-4 he score 100 off 50 against England in the last World Cup could do the same here

Niall gone 85-5

I think KOB should be coming in higher than 6 in this format of the game.

85 for 5 off 14.3 RR 5.86

All over i fear 85-6 Kevin gone backed him at 6s now a sweat to see can any of the other 4 get 31 or better . .They wont get it between them

Laid a couple of quid off just in case but it's not even a sweat

at least they got over the ton . .101-6 18 balls left

Captain Porterfield tries to pull the first ball !! -what the hell ....not even get his eye in or sample the wicket .
Very poor judgment. I'd say any chance they had disappeared there and then ...there's a shock that runs through the side and unsettles the dressing room.
Surely the top order must establish a foundation for the big hitters later.
Probably never have won but could have made it a little closer.

From what I can remember of the last couple of big tournaments, one of the top order almost always goes out early. It's an absolute killer really.

World Cup 2011

vs Bangladesh - Stirling gone 6th over (his 10th ball)
vs England - Porterfield gone 1st ball of match
vs India - Stirling gone 1st over (his 1st ball)
vs West Indies - Stirling gone 2nd over (his 6th ball)
vs South Africa - Porterfield gone 2nd over (his 8th ball)
vs Netherlands - good stand by the openers

Twenty/20 comp in 2010

vs West Indies - Porterfield gone 1st over AND Stirling gone 2nd over
vs England - Stirling gone 2nd over

Twenty/20 comp in 2009

vs Bandladesh - Bray gone 3rd over
vs India - Bray gone 2nd over AND Porterfield gone 3rd over
vs New Zealand - Porterfield gone 1st over
vs Sri Lanka - good innings by openers
vs Pakistan - N O'Brien gone 3rd over

World Cup 2007

vs Zimbabwe - Porterfield gone 1st over
vs Pakistan - Bray gone 3rd over
vs West Indies - Porterfield gone 2nd over


It seems to be happening on a very regular basis to me. You're on the back foot from the get-go and have next to no chance after that.

Very good summary -says it all.

Porterfield not acting like an opener,we need a Geoffrey Boycott.

Are the 1st 6 overs not a power play format encouraging aggression early?  This might help account for the early wickets.

No real time in T20 to play yourself in  If you think it is there to be hit, you hit it, I would have thought?

Perhaps if Trapatoni took charge of the cricketers they might play more conservatively in the opening overs.

There in a nutshell is the problem with these new forms of cricket,the cerebral part is removed.

Also in the above list, in some games Ireland will have been batting second chasing large totals, necessitating an agressive start.

What's the typical option when winning the toss in T20 cricket (assuming conditions likely to remain the same over the 40 overs)?

Ireland won it today and decided to bat

Would it not be easier to chase a target in T20 cricket?  If in the event the opposition bat first and fail to post a high score then there is less need for early aggression and you can pace the chase.

As an aside, I do recall a cricket Master at school repeating ad nauseum '9 times out of ten you bat first, the tenth time, you think about it and then bat first' though this would have been more for 40 over cricket. Also in school you might see one side bowled for 20 odd runs and if they batted first the game would be very short lived.

We were very poor yesterday, a bit too keen I think.  They were out on the field way before the start.  I have a nice bet on Kevin O Brien to be top bowler @ 6/1, and another on Stirling to be top bat @ 7/2.  I think the Windies will take all the beating in this tournie and I am heavy @ 7.60