World Cup 2019: Twitter erupts as Australia thrash England to become the first team to qualify for semi-finals

Mitchell Starc

England's World Cup dream got thrown down in murky waters after a crushing defeat against Australia on Tuesday, 25th June. Morgan and co. lost comprehensively by 64 runs against a clinical Aussie side who fought through in difficult conditions becoming the first team to qualify for the knockouts of this edition.

Chasing a target of 286, England got off to a horrible start as they lost three wickets for just 26 runs. When Jonny Bairstow got out, England were at 53/4 as they looked down and out, however, the hosts are blessed with a lot of depth in the batting line up. Ben Stokes built a good partnership with Jos Buttler to bring the hosts back into the game.

Marcus Stoinis took the wicket of Jos Buttler but English hopes were alive until Ben Stokes was at the crease. Mitchell Starc bowled Ben Stokes to strike the final nail on the English coffin as the hosts were not able to show any fight after the allrounder's dismissal.

After being invited to bat first by England, Aaron Finch and David Warner brought up yet another century partnership for the opening wicket. The Australian captain completed his century but failed to get a big score as he was dismissed by Jofra Archer.

At one stage, Australia looked set to put a score of around 330 on the board but England pulled back by taking wickets in the slog overs. Alex Carey played a good cameo to take the Australian score past 280.

Defending a score of less than 300 is never easy against a batting line up like England. Jason Behrendorff made it possible by taking a five-wicket haul. The left-arm pacer was fantastic as English batsmen looked clueless in front of him.

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