Australia go top with win over Ireland

Australia has finished their ICC U19 Cricket World Cup pool matches three from three after beating Ireland by six wickets with nine overs to spare today.

Ireland won the toss and elected to bat in breezy conditions at Endeavour Park in Townsville.

Ireland were restricted to 129 runs by a tight Australian bowling performance.

South Australia’s Alex Gregory, who only joined the squad this week, had a magnificent opening spell taking three wickets for three run in his first six overs. Gregory finished the day with tidy figures of 8-4-3-13, averaging just 1.62 an over.

New South Wales’ Shane Cassel, also joined the squad this week as a replacement, bowled magnificently ending the innings with 10-2-24-3, a performance that also earned him Man of the Match.

Ireland were dismissed before lunch and a quick 10 minute change over saw Queensland’s James Peirson and Victoria’s Meyrick Buchanan open the batting for the young Australians.

Graeme McCarter struck early for the Irish when Pierson (12) hit a soft shot to mid-off.

South Australia’s Travis Head contributed a quick 25 of 19 balls to the chase before being bowled by Andy McBrine.

Australian Captain Will Bosisto again played with a cool head and patiently chipped away at the total with Queensland’s Sam Hain to take Australia victory in the 40th over.

Coach Stuart Law said he was pleased with the performance of his bowlers.

“To bowl a team out before a lunch break is a pretty good effort, we could be a little more conservative with the new ball, but all in all we are getting early wickets,” he said.

Law said they were taking things one step at a time as they look towards the play offs.

“We will sit down and work out we can improve from the last two game and hopefully by the time we get to the quarter-finals we will be well tuned,” he added.

Australia’s next match will be a quarter-final Sunday 19 August, their opponents are yet to be confirmed.

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