Pat Cummins at centre of brutal scenes in Aussie win at T20 World Cup

Australia have been hit by an injury scare for Aaron Finch and concerns over the form of Pat Cummins after a vital 42-run win over Ireland at the T20 World Cup.

Finch finally fired with the bat but suffered a hamstring injury as the bowlers did the job in Brisbane on Monday night.

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Finch made 63 off 44 balls, pacing his powerhouse and classy innings to perfection to lift Australia to 5-179 after they were sent in to bat by Ireland.

The Australia captain then pulled all the right reins in the field in the early overs as the Irish were dismissed for 137.

But it was Finch's hamstring that was the team's biggest problem after the match.

The Aussie captain had left for the dressing room by the end of the seventh over to get treatment for an injury he appeared to aggravate after sustaining it while batting.

"It is a little hammie twinge I think," Finch said while receiving the man of the match award.

"I will get scanned tomorrow. Unfortunately I have a history of them so we will see how it goes. It doesn't feel too bad but generally overnight they can stiffen up.

"I am very hopeful (of playing Afghanistan on Friday)."

There are also serious concerns over the form of Cummins, who dropped a crucial catch late in the match that could have seen the Aussies win by even more and improve their net-run rate.

Australia had to win by 75 runs to get their net-run rate above that of England, and they looked on track to achieve that when they had Ireland 5-25.

However they took their foot off the throat after Finch left the field, with Lorcan Tucker making 71 not out off 48 balls to frustrate the Aussies.

In brutal scenes, Cummins dropped Tucker earlier in his innings and allowed the Irish batter to get his side closer to Australia's total than the hosts would have wanted.

The win elevated Australia to five points on the Group 1 ladder and equal with New Zealand, but their net run-rate (-0.30) is still worse than England (0.24) - who are on three points and face the Kiwis on Tuesday night at the Gabba.

Aaron Finch injury concern after Australia's win

Australia will be sweating on the fitness of Finch as they head to Adelaide for their make-or-break final Super 12 match against Afghanistan.

But if the captain doesn't make it the senior players are confident they have the collective smarts to fill the breach and support back-up skipper Matthew Wade.

While Finch remains hopeful of playing on Friday, pace bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood said the team had the experience to manage without him.

"I think we covered it off well out there," Hazlewood said. "We have a lot of leaders in the team and a lot of experience.

"I thought (Wade) was pretty good. It was an interesting game with one guy (Tucker) hitting them well from one end and batting with the tail."

Starc did admit Tucker's innings put the heat on the brains trust, but felt it was better to have the scare now than later in the tournament.

"It was better to experience now than in finals," he said.

"It was still a little bit frantic while they were striking the ball quite nicely. It probably changed a bit with having Aaron off the field with what he was planning to do."

An England victory on Tuesday will see them go level on points with Australia and New Zealand with one game each to play, but Australia will be trailing in third.

Starc, who took two wickets in his first over in the power play, admitted Australia missed a chance for a better percentage boost but hoped it wouldn't matter.

"You could look at that but first and foremost we need to win these games so we ticked that box," he said.

"We will wait and see what the result is tomorrow (between England and New Zealand) and we might not be talking about net run rate."

with AAP

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