A match of the equals has ended with Australia beating Pakistan by 62 runs in the 18th fixture of the ongoing ICC World Cup tournament in Chennai today. With this, the Australian team seems to be back on track after this abysmal start to the World Cup. This is the second consecutive win after they defeated Sri Lanka on October 16 by 5 wickets with 88 balls remaining.
Post the match, Australia rose to the fourth position on the points table, while Pakistan slipped to the fifth.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to field.
Australia started strong with its openers David Warner and Mitchell Marsh scoring centuries, pushing their team’s score beyond 200 at the loss of no wickets. Giving the perfect start, Warner hammered 163 runs off 124 balls, with 14 fours and nine sixes, while Marsh hit 121 off 108 balls, 10 fours and nine sixes. The Aussies at one point looked to be moving towards scoring 400 plus runs, however, they were ultimately restricted at 367/9. After Warner and Marsh fell, the Australian team collapsed. Shaheen Afridi returned to form and took out 5 wickets which helped Pakistan restrict Australia to 367.
In their response, Pakistan started off pretty well on the backs of its openers Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq, who put up a 134-run opening stand, scoring half-centuries in the process. Their partnership promised a great game and threatened the Australian team. However, Stoinis broke the opening partnership with his first ball of the match with Shafique’s wicket and later on got Imam as well.
Skipper Babar Azam was taken out by Adam Zampa, who today took 4 wickets. Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan seemed to provide Pakistan stability before the former fell. After this the game pretty much went in Australia’s camp as the Pakistani players failed to challenge their bowlers with a sturdy partnership.
Both teams have played four matches in the tournament so far and have had contrasting fates. While Australia is now riding high on two consecutive wins, Pakistan will be going back to the drawing board after two back-to-back failures.
In its last match against India, Pakistan lost by 7 wickets with 117 balls remaining.