Colombo, Feb 11
Australia stand-in captain Travis Head said that the team is ready to adapt themselves to different situations and challenges after they registered a commanding 67-run victory over Ireland in their opening T20 World Cup 2026 match at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday.
Australia posted 182/6 and then bowled Ireland out for 115 in 16.5 overs, with Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa taking four wickets each.
"Yeah, I feel well. Yeah, nice start. Obviously, after the first tournament, I thought everyone played really, really well, so positive momentum," he said in the post-match conference.
The stand-in skipper emphasised the importance of adapting to varying conditions during the tournament.
"Yeah, they seemed tough, and then it might be different in two days' time. So, we talked about problem-solving and adapting on the go, and we want to keep that intact, being an overseas team over the last couple of years. We want to try to keep that ready. I thought we did that really well in different ways today," he said.
"I thought we hit a lot of twos and that back end until we got to the death. And the boys were able to finish off and get us to a really good score. So, it's obviously attacking hard throughout the whole way, but that may look different in different conditions. So, let's see what we get in a couple of days' time and adapt and continue on," he added.
Head credited the crucial middle-order partnership between Matthew Renshaw and Marcus Stoinis for setting up the win and also the bowling pair of Ellis and Zampa, who did the damage in the chase.
"Probably a combination of both. I thought Riddles and Stoinis' partnership in the middle was really, really rock-solid. Kept the rate going, got us to a really, really good score, and then the way that Nel and Adam bowled throughout the second innings was exceptional. So, that's what we need from them, too, to be the leaders of our attack. So, for them to stand up tonight was an exciting start for us."
Head feels that the team bonding and fitness will play a crucial role as the tournament progresses.
"So, we'll get our mindset to really like this group, and we'll find groups to be around. We'll enjoy each other's company, and we'll continue to play good cricket, and hopefully, we'll have everybody fit. It'd be nice. It'd be nice to get a couple more fit over the next few days. So, trucking that way. So, you're not going to win the World Cup right now, but it'd be nice to get the boys up and going by the time we get to the business end of it."
Australia will next face Zimbabwe at the same venue on Friday in their second group stage game of the T20 World Cup 2026.
- IANS
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