AUS vs IRE, T20 World Cup 2026: Australia comfortably beat Ireland in opening match

The Australian cricket team kicked off its T20 World Cup 2026 Group B campaign with a 67-run win over Ireland at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Wednesday.

Batting first, world No. 2 Australia posted 182/6 riding on a 29-ball 45 by Marcus Stoinis. Adam Zampa and Nathan Ellis picked up four wickets each to bundle out the 12th-ranked Irish team to 115 in 16.5 overs.

Mitchell Marsh, Australia’s designated captain for the ongoing World Cup, was ruled out of the match after sustaining a direct blow to the groin during a training session earlier this week.

The injury caused internal testicular bleeding and Marsh will require rest and rehabilitation before returning to action.

Opener Travis Head, Australia’s stand-in captain for the match, was dropped by Ben Calitz in the first over of the match but the lapse didn’t prove too costly as he was run out in the first ball of the second over.

Josh Inglish (37 off 17) and Cameron Green (21 off 11) came together and scored fluently to take the former T20 World Cup champions past 50 quickly.

Both, however, departed in quick succession as the Aussies stumbled to 69/3. Their woes compounded with Glenn Maxwell walking back in the 10th over, leaving them precariously at 88/4.

A well-paced 61-run stand between Matt Renshaw and Marcus Stoinis in the middle overs seemed to have given Australia a perfect platform for a late flourish.

Ireland, though, dampened the plans by sending back Renshaw (37 off 33) and Stoinis (45 off 29) in successive overs to rein back the Aussies to 159/2 heading into the final two overs.

The Australian side finished on 182/6 - a respectable score but under par from the potential total they were looking at while on 149/4 in the 17th over with Stoinis and Renshaw on the crease.

Ireland’s chase limped to a start as captain Paul Stirling injured himself while trying to go for a single after digging out a Xavier Bartlett yorker in the first ball and had to hobble off the field retired hurt.

Stirling’s opening partner Ross Adair, however, made his intent clear and hit Xavier for a four and a six off consecutive balls in the same over.

Adair was handed a lifeline in the second over as Renshaw dropped him off Matthew Kuhnemann’s bowling but Cameron Green made sure he hung on to Harry Tector’s catch in the final ball.

Nathan Ellis rattled Adair’s stumps in the very next delivery before forcing Curtis Campher to play one straight to midwicket another ball later. The Irish were at 17/3 officially and effectively at 17/4 after the opening three overs.

From that point on, Ireland never really looked like a threat to Australia’s total as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Lorcan Tucker (24 off 27) and George Dockrell (41 off 29) put up brief resistances, but only delayed the inevitable as Australia eventually emerged victorious comfortably.

Adam Zampa finished with 4/23 while Nathan Ellis recorded career-best bowling figures of 4/12.

Australia will face Zimbabwe in their next T20 World Cup 2026 match at the same venue on Friday.

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