ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL: HOPE SPRANG eternal for Ireland for 70 overs of yesterday’s RSA Challenge One-Day International against world champions Australia in Clontarf.
Alas, Hopes was all the visiting side needed in the end as James Hopes ruined Ireland’s chances of a seismic upset in the world game as Australia claimed a 39-run victory in front of a sell-out crowd of 4,500.
The 31-year-old Queenslander, bowling at no more than a brisk medium pace, devastated Ireland’s reply to the Australians’ modest-looking total of 231. He took his first ODI five-wicket haul to finish with figures of five for 14 from his nine overs as Ireland were bowled out for 192 with eight overs remaining.
For an hour after lunch the crowd dared to dream under blue skies, with skipper William Porterfield and Paul Stirling getting Ireland off to a start that would have been scintillating in Twenty20, let alone the 50-over variety.
Ryan Harris’s first over from the City end set the tone, with two wides and a single coming before Porterfield cracked three out of the next four deliveries to the boundary. When the dust settled the scoreboard recorded 16 runs off the nine-ball over and Ireland were 22 without loss.
The onslaught continued, with 19-year-old Paul Stirling getting in the act, blasting the ball to the fence to show his two ducks in the World Twenty20 was merely a blip in the most promising of careers.
Ireland made their first 50 runs off just 39 balls, compared to Australia’s 70, and finished the first 10-over powerplay on 76 without loss.
Now operating from then Killester end, Harris would make the breakthrough in the next over when Stirling lost his leg stump after a run-a-ball 36.
Harris then trapped Gary Wilson leg-before for six, and when Porterfield was bowled by Nathan Hauritz for 39, Ireland were 86 for three and Australia had drawn blood.
They didn’t apply the killer blow straight away, as Niall O’Brien and Alex Cusack put on 51 before Hopes trapped Cusack, a former team-mate at Norths in Brisbane, in front for 30. It looked a little high but umpire Nigel Llong had no doubt.
It started a catastrophic collapse as Ireland lost six wickets for 19 runs, before a last-wicket stand of 36 between Boyd Rankin and John Mooney, who made 38.
It’s a defeat that will hurt Phil Simmons and his side after such a promising start. Australian skipper Ricky Ponting’s admission that his team were backs-to-the- wall will add to their distress.
Asked if there were times early in Ireland’s reply if he was worried, Ponting said: “There was a few, yeah, I must admit. They got off to a great start, we were hoping to make some impact with the new ball and we didn’t.
“We just had to keep clawing our way back into the game after the first five or six overs. And I thought we did that really well, I thought Hopes was outstanding and Hauritz as well.
“Once we took the pace off the ball it was harder to score, but we knew that was the way the wicket would play coming here today,” he added.
Porterfield was acutely aware of the opportunity that was missed after taking control of the game.
“It’s very disappointing from the position we were in after 10 or 12 overs. We were way ahead of the game, we only needed under fours with 10 wickets in hand,” he said
“We managed to lose a few quick wickets, but we managed to rebuild from there when Nobby and Cusey put on 50-odd and got us right back in it again. We had them on the back foot, it was ours to lose from there, and we let it slip,” he added.
If the batsmen yet again failed to play their part, then the bowling and fielding performance was platinum standard once more.
After losing talisman Trent Johnston after five overs with a badly bruised thumb, the rest of the Irish attack came to the party.
Boyd Rankin (two for 46) was menacing up front, while Stirling was a revelation, with his 10 overs of off-spin going for just 34 runs with the prized wickets of Ponting (33) and Cameron White (42) thrown in.
Kevin O’Brien was another to excel, taking three for 43, all of them catches to older brother Niall in the outfield. They also came during the Australian batting powerplay, starting with the wicket of Tim Paine, who backboned the Australian innings with his 81 coming from 122 balls.
The Ireland display in the field impressed Ponting hugely and the tenacious Tasmanian was generous in his praise and – critically – his advice.
“I think in a game like today they have to keep believing in themselves and believing that they can beat the best teams around the world. We saw enough talent there today to know that they’ll probably knock off a few big teams in the future.”
Just not his Australia, not this time around anyhow.
