All-round Watson seals thumping

Australia teach minnows a lesson with 7-wicket win.

COLOMBO: Shane Watson pounded Ireland with bat and ball as Australia began their World Twenty20 campaign with an emphatic seven-wicket victory.

Watson grabbed three wickets as Ireland were restricted to 123 for seven and then smashed 51 off 30 balls to help Australia surpass the modest total in the 16th over of the Group B match. The New South Wales all-rounder put on 60 for the first wicket with David Warner (26) in seven overs, and 31 off 18 balls for the second with Michael Hussey, before he was run out in the 11th over.

Watson, who hit five boundaries and three sixes, was named the man of the match.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2012.