Johnston shelves the chicken

If there was a large crowd somewhere in Colombo, it wasn't at Premadasa Stadium. It might have been possible to count 1,000, but that included groundstaff, media, dancers and firework operatives. It was an afternoon match involving two non-Asian sides, one of them a minnow, on only the second night of the tournament but the empty terraces were not a sight to rouse spirits.

Trent Johnston's second over went for 19, his suffering completed by Shane Watson's dismissive pull for six as he strayed down the leg side. Johnston is now 38, and says he still wants to help Ireland to qualify for the next 50-over World Cup, even if not necessarily play in it. He did pull off a run out, throwing out Shane Watson from short third-man, but he decided against a rendition of the chicken dance that he treated Adam Gilchrist to when he dismissed him in the 2007 World Cup.

There was no satisfaction for Australia's Hussey brothers as Mike had to make do without his younger brother, David, who was omitted despite holding the Australian record for most runs in Twenty20. At least the O'Brien brothers clubbed together to ease Ireland's pain, adding 52 in seven overs from the depths of 33 for 4 as they passed their lowest Twenty20 score in the process.

Before a ball had even been bowled in Australia's reply, Ireland's wicketkeeper Gary Wilson said something to David Warner that riled him so much that he invited a confrontation. Watson walked down from the non-striker's end to intervene. Umpire Aleem Dar told Ireland's captain, William Porterfield, to get a grip.