CRICKET: Ireland dusted off in warm-up... just

Good Avcol Lad (Guptill) doing his job with 130

A 32 win run might on the surface seem comfortable to some, but in the context of a 311 run chase with the chasers being Ireland, a few doubts will still exist in the aftermath of the practice victory.  Most of those will sit with the bowling, which took an unexpected thumping at the hands of the swinging Irish.  Yes, wickets were claimed by the likely in Mills, Bennett and Vettori, but with only 2 of the 7 bowlers used able to keep their economy under 5 (Vettori and Styris), concerns will be for the lack of run-restriction by the others (Bennett conceding over 8).  Making it to 170/3 after 30 overs, the Irish successfully highlighted an opening lack of penetration in our strike-force, losing their way only in the final 10.  With one more warm-up against India (Feb 16) before it all matters, lets hope Donald and co. can help our boys find something lethal to like.