Australia may fall below Ireland in T20 rankings

Australia will suffer lower ranking in Twenty20 if they cannot avenge their record first-up loss to Pakistan on Saturday morning – they will fall behind Ireland in the world rankings.Only a slender 0.57 ratings point separates George Bailey’s men from Ireland after Australia were handed a seven-wicket thumping by Pakistan with 31 balls to spare – their heaviest loss in terms of balls remaining.Failure to level the three-game series in Dubai would not only hand Pakistan an unassailable lead but also result in Australia slipping behind the Irish to a lowly 10th on the official ICC table – above only Zimbabwe.Such a rating would make a mockery of the market forces in the Twenty20 game.Advertisement While the semi-professional Irish do not have a player on the roster of any Indian Premier League franchise, the 13 Australians in their 15-man World Cup squad commanded more than $US6.4 million in fees at the lucrative 2011-12 auctions.Many also hold deals in other Twenty20 leagues such as the Big Bash and competitions in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and England.The narrow gap between Australia and Ireland is not reflected either in early betting markets for the Twenty20 showpiece.The Australians are rated a $7 chance with TAB, behind favourites India, world No.1 South Africa and defending champion England. Ireland are considered a $201 outsider.Bailey believes his side can recover from the rout, in which Australia made their second lowest Twenty20 total of 89, and win the World Cup, but they have just two more games against Pakistan and two warm-up matches - against England and New Zealand - to restore their confidence before their World Cup-opener against the Irish on Wednesday week.Australia were invited to bat first in hot and humid evening conditions on a pitch Bailey said was slow-paced and assisting the spinners. He said 140 would have been a reasonably good target to set Pakistan.Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal had claimed 10 wickets in the three-match one-day international series that ended earlier this week and the offspinner was damaging again with 2-13 off four overs.Fellow spinners Mohammad Hafeez and Raza Hasan, on debut, also took two wickets while paceman Sohail Tanvir picked up 3-13 and Umar Gul claimed the key wicket of Shane Watson.Opener David Warner (22) was the only batsman to reach 20 in a worrying display from Australia just two weeks shy of Australia’s opening T20 World Cup clash with Ireland in Colombo.Australia’s quicks Pat Cummins, Ben Hilfenhaus and Watson took one wicket each in Pakistan’s innings.