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And so that concludes our coverage of this highly anticipated contest. They just keep coming though at this World Cup and it's a dual treat tomorrow. The Netherlands take on Sri Lanka in Lucknow as the Lankans look to get on the board at last and avoid a fourth win on the bounce. While that commences in the morning, it's a mouth-watering tussle that awaits in the afternoon as the Wankhede Stadium makes its bow for the tournament by hosting the wounded England and South Africa, both of whom are coming off major upsets. Lots to look forward to so do join us again here on Sportskeeda while keeping yourselves updated with further cricketing news and action from around the world on this very platform. For the moment, this is the duo of Pradeep Somashekar and Sooryanarayanan Sesha taking your leave. Thank you so much for joining us as we hope you enjoyed our coverage. Have a cracking weekend - good night and take care!
A smiling Pat Cummins and understandably so. A week ago, Australia looked lost for all money. But that's the way the sport is - the sun shines on you again and with back-to-back wins, Australia are back on track and this is as ominous a sign as any for the rest of the competition as they move up to fourth spot. As for Pakistan, it's the exact opposite - they've now lost two on the spin after a couple of wins first up. Lots to ponder over for Babar Azam and his men as they next head to Chennai to face Afghanistan on Monday (October 23). Australia, on the other hand, move up north to Delhi as the Dutch challenge awaits them on Wednesday (October 25).
Pat Cummins (Australia captain): That was great. Great win. Always pretty tough playing here in Chinnaswamy but good to get a win. That was proper from those two (Warner and Marsh). Kind of really set the tone, that's how we want to play our cricket - take the game on. I think that's the key in ODI cricket - it can be easy at times and hard to get the breakthrough bt you just need that one wicket and suddenly it gets tougher for the next batter. This is a tough stadium and pitch sometimes to bowl on but we stuck at it. We hit great areas and used the bounce well. Zampa's been awesome. He's been on the bed for the last week. That was fantastic - he showed his class. The wickets of Babar Azam and Iftikhar were important. (What does the team have to do between now and the Netherlands game?) We're coming off two big wins. We've got three of four days off. We've set the benchmark and got to keep up with it.
Babar Azam (Pakistan captain): Yes, to be honest and we weren't up to the mark and if you drop catch of a batter like Warner, they'll make you pay and the margin of error on this ground is very less on a small ground like this. All credit to fast bowlers and spinners, we came back well in the last 10 overs and we hit the right lengths and targeted the stumps. Message was simple, we could do it and needed partnerships at the top of the order, we started well and we got only small partnerships, that hurt us in the end. We will try to correct the mistakes from this game, we need to focus on building big partnerships.
David Warner is the Player of the Match! Here's what he has to say: (On his groin) It is, it is a bit sore and bit of cramp, that's all it is. It was awesome, we thought it was going to be tough for the first five or six overs, once we got the pace of the wicket and we target the next set of guys who came in to bowl. Just committing and backing my skills, I had a good hit in the middle yesterday, I was ticking along nicely and one luck away as well and it helps when you hit the ball off the middle and it was good to get out there and start a partnership with Mitch. We wanted to bat well for the firs 35 overs, and then go big but we still need to do a bit of tinker at the end and something to work on. It's just what you do to the team, every run is valuable, I've always run hard and will continue to do.
Match Summary: Australia beat Pakistan by 62 runs.
David Warner 163 (124) | Adam Zampa 4/53 (10) Imam-ul-Haq 70 (71) | Shaheen Afridi 5/54 (10)
A chase that seemed on for a good part of it but eventually, the weight of the runs that Australia had at their disposal saw them hold their own comfortably in the end. Mind you, they could have got a lot more than 367 but for the way they lost the plot after a couple of blistering hundreds from David Warner and Mitchell Marsh.
The ball barely swung and Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique looked positive for Pakistan. Mitchell Starc bowled all over the place even as Josh Hazlewood held his own at his end but wickets were very hard to come by for Australia. Shafique unleashed some outstanding shots while the seamers didn't bombard Imam with the short ball for some queer reason. A century-run opening partnership followed and with the likelihood of dew, Pakistan were on track in their essay as both openers raised their half-centuries. A couple of dropped chances didn't help Australia either and they were on the lookout for some inspiration.
In Marcus Stoinis, they found one. He struck first ball as he bounced Shafique out before removing Imam too a couple of overs later. Skipper Pat Cummins played a huge role in nipping the big fish though as Babar Azam heaved a half-tracker to his opposite number, who plucked a stunner at short mid-wicket. Australia were right back in the contest and were calling the shots although another steady partnership then ensued between Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan.
There was nothing to work with in the surface and it was all going to come down to tight bowling and good fielding. Australia took care of the second of those and held onto their catches in due course of time while Zampa and Hazlewood didn't miss a beat. With Shakeel growing in confidence, Cummins rung in another inspired bowling change to nip him in the bud as Stoinis held onto a scorcher of a catch himself. In came Iftikhar Ahmed though and every time there was pace on the ball that was angled into the stumps, he latched onto the ball and deposited it into the crowd.
It was imperative that Zampa had to return soon and once he did, he trapped Iftikhar plumb in front to land another dent to Pakistan's hopes. The last straw came in the form of Rizwan's wicket as he played all around a sweep before Zampa bowed out with a four-fer. It all just crumbled for Pakistan as they lost wickets in a heap with the skipper picking up the last one. You don't often come second upon scoring 305 in a chase but the fact that Pakistan did so while falling short by 62 runs paints a telling picture. Stay tuned for the presentation...
And the captain has the final say in proceedings in Bengaluru! He had his say on the field with some smart calls as well as an outstanding catch to send Babar Azam back and it's a second wicket to his name that caps off a fruitful night for him. Australia win by 62 runs!
45.3 Pat Cummins to Shaheen Afridi, OUT! ALL OVER! Australia win and it's all smiles int the dressing room, Pakistan will feel they missed out here as they were in the run chase for the major part of it. Short again, Shaheen powered it flat but due to not much elevation, it went straight to Labuschagne who makes no mistake and Pakistan are bowled out in the end. Shaheen Afridi c Marnus Labuschagne b Pat Cummins 10 (8b, 2x4, 0x6)
Pakistan will want to get as many as they can here to try and limit the damage to their net run-rate.
45.2 Pat Cummins to Shaheen Afridi, FOUR! SHOT! Tremendous hit from Shaheen. Bangs in the short delivery, Shaheen on top of the bounce has clobbered it to deep mid-wicket, goes one bounce into the ropes for a boundary.
45.1 Pat Cummins to Shaheen Afridi, OH! Well disguised slower one, back of a length over the stumps. Shaheen too early to swipe across the line and misses.
Pat Cummins [7.0-0-58-1] is back into the attack
Tough day at the office for Starc but that wicket will bring a smile on his face. He's looked way off target today but the good thing from Australia's point of view is the manner in which the likes of Hazlewood and Zampa have stepped up to shut the door on Pakistan.
45
overs
301/9score
4
1
0
4
W
0
runs
Haris Rauf*
0(1)
Shaheen Afridi
6(5)
Mitchell Starc
1/65
44.6 Mitchell Starc to Haris Rauf, OH! Back of a length, tailed back in on the stumps. Rauf on the backfoot keeps it out.
Haris Rauf, RHB, is the last man out in the middle
And once again, Mitchell Starc picks up a wicket in a World Cup game. The streak continues as Pakistan lose their ninth wicket. The end is nigh!
44.5 Mitchell Starc to Hasan Ali, OUT! APPEAL FOR CAUGHT BEHIND, GIVEN! Starc has his first of the night, he might not have been at his best but he gets a wicket when needed. Short over the stumps, Hasan walks across off-stump to pull but has gloved it straight to Inglis who takes a good catch.
Hasan Ali c Josh Inglis b Mitchell Starc 8 (8b, 2x4, 0x6)
300 up for Pakistan!
44.4 Mitchell Starc to Hasan Ali, EDGED AND FOUR! Full toss on the off-stump, Hasan backed away and swings hard, but takes the outside edge and races to third-man ropes for another boundary.
Video
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Haris Rauf
*
Mitchell Starc
M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
