Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa Help Australia Kick-Start ICC T20 WC 2026 Campaign With Decimation Of Ireland

Australia opened their ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign with a resounding win over Ireland at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Wednesday as they romped to a 67-run win.

The Aussies put up a total of 182 runs for the loss of six wickets thanks to contributions from Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis and Matt Renshaw, before limiting Ireland to 115 as Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa starred with a four-wicket haul each.

Travis Head, the stand-in skipper on the day, due to Mitch Marsh’s absence on the day, won the toss and opted to have a bat first as he opened the game alongside Inglis. Head fell cheaply as he was caught short of the crease by Ben Calitz for just 6 runs. Cameroon Green added 21 runs before falling to Mark Adair.

Inglis and Renshaw

steadied the Aussie innings with a solid stand before the former fell for 37 to George Dockrell. Glenn Maxwell, who added a run-a-ball-9 was removed by Harry Tector.

Renshaw played anchor yet again as she stood alongside Stoinis to steady the ship yet again before Matthew Humphreys removed Renshaw for 37, while Stoinis went on to add 45 runs before Adair picked up his second wicket of the day. Cooper Connolly and Xavier Bartlett remained unbeaten on 11 runs each to help Australia register the total.

Irish skipper Paul Stirling was retired hurt in the first over hampering his side’s chances early on before Matthew Kuhnemann removed Tector for a duck. Ellis ripped through Ireland’s top order with the dismissals of Adair, Curtis Campher and Calitz cheaply.

Zampa joined the party with the dismissals of Gareth Delany, Lorcan Tucker, Dockrell, and Mark Adair to register a four-fer, before Ellis came back into the attack to close out the game with the wicket of Barry McCarthy as the Aussies posted a resounding win despite being forced to shuffle their pack.