U-19 Preview: Ireland vs Australia

Ireland play their second Group B game at the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2010 tonight against Australia. The match starts at 9:30 p.m. our time, or 10:30 tomorrow local time in New Zealand.

It's going to be a tough match for our underage side, as Australia are coming off the back of a barnstorming 108 run win over USA. Australia scored 262 all out in 49.3 overs, with a run rate of 5.29. So if Ireland are going to overcome Australia, the bowlers will need to be on form, particularly against the opening duo of Nic Maddinson and Tom Beaton. Beaton scored an excellent 73 last night, and both formed a wonderful partnership of 82 before Maddinson was stumped.

Although Ireland lost to USA last year, they should be a much better opposition for the Aussies than the Americans proved. USA suffered horribly with the bat, and were 7-28 after less than 10 overs. The Australian bowling was strong all-round, but Josh Hazelwood and Adam Zampa are our main threats.

Our openers Balbirnie and Thompson will need to perform much better with the bat if we want to stand any chance of winning. Hopefully we can also win the toss and field early in a cool New Zealand morning. This is a must-win match, as if we lose, the USA game will only be a consolation.