AUS vs IRE Match 14 Results

1:32 PM IST Player of the Match - Nathan Ellis gets the acknowledgement for his brilliant figures of 3.5-1-12-4. Ellis starts off by saying that playing in Sri Lanka is about adapting to the pitch conditions, which can be unpredictable. He has played a few times and knows the surfaces can vary, but he was prepared to adapt on the fly. Ellis jokes about bringing down the average height of the team with Australia's senior fast bowlers absent (the likes of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, who are all well above 6 feet), but he's confident in the team's abilities. He highlights the good combinations they've built with players like Xavier Bartlett, and the planning they've done gives them confidence to perform strongly. He further explains that he adjusted his bowling strategy based on the conditions, deciding to bowl slower balls after watching the first few overs. He focuses on varying ball speed while keeping arm speed consistent, which he believes is key to effective bowling on pitches like these. Ellis ends by praising Adam Zampa's performance, saying he's one of the best in the world and will play a huge role in the tournament.

1:29 PM IST The captain of Australia - Travis Head says that he is satisfied with his team's performance and happy with the win. Continues that both departments did their job and he feels that is the reason behind their success today. He feels that Matt Renshaw's and Marcus Stoinis' partnership was important in the first inning and in the second inning, Adam Zampa and Nathan Ellis did really well to pick the wickets and he also hopes that they carry forward this momentum further in the campaign. He also shares his views on adapting to challenging conditions. He says that the conditions were a bit tricky today but their middle order handled the pressure. Ends up saying they are really having fun as everyone is enjoying each other's company which is uplifting the mood in the dressing room.

1:29 PM IST The stand-in skipper for Ireland - Lorcan Tucker says Paul Stirling took a knock on his knee while trying to take that catch in the first innings. Says it was brave of him to go out there in the second innings, but unfortunately, he couldn't continue. Shares that they talked about the surface, but they didn't start the way they would have liked with the bat and credits the way Australia bowled in the Powerplay. Feels that 150-160 was in their mind but Australia got more than that. Acknowledges that there's plenty that can happen, and they'll keep on fighting.

1:27 PM IST Signing off from Colombo - End of the second match of the day and after a never-ending first game, we have witnessed a fairly one-sided contest. Worry not, as there is a blockbuster clash lined up next. Two-time champions, West Indies, are taking on another two-time champions England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. That match is about to start at 1.30 pm GMT and England have opted to BOWL first. You can switch tabs and tune in to our coverage of that clash. Cheers!

1:14 PM IST Crumbling under pressure - We have seen what Ireland are capable of but somehow, against the bigger teams, on the biggest stage, they seem to falter. It was a decent bowling performance from them but the underutilization of the pace-off deliveries at the death cost them a bit. The spinners were solid in general and Mark Adair picked up a couple of wickets, but he was very expensive. The batting performance left a lot to be desired. Paul Stirling had to hobble back after the very first ball, probably pulling a hamstring, and then the top order batters just gifted wickets away. Lorcan Tucker showed a bit of resilience and then their 'crisis man,' George Dockrell, stepped up and played a valiant knock of 41 off just 29 balls but it was never going to be enough.