Match not working? (3,2,6)

I believe the answer is:

out on strike

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'match not working?' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot judge whether this works.

'match not working?' is the wordplay.
'match' becomes 'out' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'not working?' becomes 'onstrike' (I've seen this in another clue).
'out'+'onstrike'='OUT ON STRIKE'

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Irish News.

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