Colombo: Ireland captain William Porterfield won the toss and chose to bat against Australia in their World Twenty20 match at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Wednesday.

Australia have so far failed to tame the shortest format of the game and it will be a test of their character when they face William Porterfield-led Irish side, who are well known to spring a few surprises at the big stage.

The Irish men have won both their warm-up matches in the build up to the championship and interestingly, they were also briefly ahead of Australia on the ranking list earlier this month, something that Kangaroos will be wary of.

Australia warmed-up for the campaign with a comprehensive win over New Zealand, but their nine-run loss to defending champions England in their second warm-up match, courtesy to some wayward bowling from their speedsters, would be a cause of worry for skipper George Bailey.

Bailey said after toss: "The wicket shouldn't change much. We're going with an all-out pace attack, Cummins is in. Hoggy is 41 but his energy is phenominal. I'm enjoying captaincy, looking forward to the tournament."

Porterfield: "We've got some dangerous players in the line up and the guys are ready. We're the underdogs and we're fine with it".

Teams

Australia: Shane Watson, David Warner, Mike Hussey, George Bailey (capt), Cameron White, Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christian, Brad Hogg, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Mathew Made (wk).

Irealnd: William Porterfield (capt), Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce, Niall O'Brien, Gary Wilson (wk), Kevin O'Brien, Trent Johnston, George Dockrell, Nigel Jones, Boyd Rankin, Alex Cusack