Rain could not save Australia from exiting the Champions Trophy yesterday as England crushed them despite losing their top three very early in a chase of 278. Ben Stokes slammed a hundred while Eoin Morgan hit 87 as the Aussies had no clue to break the 159 run stand that eventually sealed the final group game of the two sides.
Earlier, put in to bat, Australia lost Warner early but Aaron Finch and Steven Smith made full use of some unimaginative bowling before Finch threw his wicket away. Three more followed in quick succession and not even a spectacular half-century from Travis Head could take Australia to a par score.
England, despite being rocked by the wickets of Jason Roy and Alex Hales in the first two overs, were confident in their approach with Morgan revealing his intentions quite early. England's Mr. Dependable, Joe Root fell to a peach from Josh Hazlewood but Stokes and Morgan showed why England are a revamped side with their approach and intentions.
#5 Middle order collapse
Aaron Finch and Steven Smith had gotten Australia to a fine start with a 96-run stand after the fall of Warner when all hell broke loose. Finch, who had crossed a fine half-century, decided to take on Ben Stokes at a time Australia were going really well. He miscued the shot and made way for Moises Henriques.
The strangest selection in the Australian line-up, Moises Henriques, played 19 balls for 17 before he tried to slog sweep a Rashid googly only to be caught at mid-on. Smith, who was furious at Henriques for his rash shot, miscued a drive off Mark Wood to mid-off soon after. The middle order collapse led Australia to a below par total.
#4 Bizarre playing XI selections
Australia had a very strong 15 member squad selected for the tournament and it seemed impossible that they could mess up their starting XI. However, right from game one, they managed to do exactly that by benching Chris Lynn for Moises Henriques, the most suspect selection in the squad.
Lynn, a quality top order batsman in fine nick, did not get to play a single game while Henriques, who barely contributed with bat or ball was persisted with. He was also sent in ahead of Travis Head at no. 4 in all games, another bizarre tactic given that Head has been in fine form. Hastings, the top wicket taker of 2016 also found no room in the squad after game 1.
#3 Matthew Wade dropping Eoin Morgan
Possibly the costliest drop of the Champions Trophy came in the fourth over of the England innings. Starc and Hazlewood had struck pretty early to reduce England to 6/2 within the first two overs. Morgan then decided to show that England were a changed side by charging down to Hazlewood and smacking him for two fours in succession and then another one later.
Hazlewood then had him arranged down leg with a short ball but Matthew Wade dived with one hand and made a mess of the chance. It was a fairly regulation catch by International standards and Australia had to pay a big price.
The wicket-keeper watched in agony as Stokes and Morgan put on a match turning 159-run partnership. Morgan was eventually dismissed for 87 but the game was safe in England's bag by then.
#2 Bowling too short to Stokes and Morgan
That Eoin Morgan has a weakness against the short ball is well known. Peppering him with short balls did not seem like a bad idea at the start of the innings, especially with Hazlewood inducing an edge. But as the innings progressed, Morgan found his feet against the short ball while Stokes was acing them like Roddick's serve.
But strangely the Aussie pacers persisted with the short line, in particular, Cummins and Hazlewood. The former was guilty of not complementing the strike bowlers. He was short and wayward allowing the England batsmen to dominate proceedings.
#1 Poor fielding and worse captaincy
Australia are known to turn up for must win-games with a confidence that only the Aussie seem to get. Yet, in their most important game of the Group, the Aussies were grasping at thin air with their tactics, captaincy and fielding. As if Wade dropping Morgan's attempted pull was not enough, Maxwell put down Buttler with England still 70 runs away from victory.
Smith's captaincy was way off mark, as he ran out of ideas with Morgan and Stokes on the charge. Supposedly picked for his wicket-taking ability, Zampa wasn't brought on until the partnership was well set. Although both were left-handers and Zampa would be turning the ball into them, a leg-spinner quite early in the innings could have been tempting for Stokes to take on.
The Aussie skipper also showed little foresight with his bowling changes and field placements. All of this played into England's hands at Edgbaston.
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