Cricket World Cup: David Warner’s ton sets up Australia victory over Pakistan in high-scoring group game

By James On Oct 20, 2023

David Warner and Mitchell Marsh smashed centuries in a record opening partnership to inspire Australia to an emphatic 62-run win over Pakistan in their Cricket World Cup group match in Bangalore.

The Australian openers shared an incredible partnership worth 259 from 203 balls – the highest opening stand in a World Cup for their side and the second highest in the competition – after Pat Cummins lost the toss and his team was put into bat.

Pakistan inflicted a mini-collapse at the end of the innings, with star bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi (5-54) doing most of the damage as Australia totaled 367-9.

In the chase, Pakistani pair Abdullah Shafique (64) and Imam-ul-Haq (70) shared an opening stand worth 134 off 127 balls, with both reaching their half-centuries before being dismissed by Marcus Stoinis (2-40). .

Adam Zampa (4-53) then took charge of Australia when he collected another four-fer, removing Mohammad Rizwan (46) after a successful lbw review, and when he departed so did Pakistan’s hopes as they before 305 was wiped out. with four and a half overs left.

Warner’s show-stopping innings

Warner made 163 off 124 balls as he recorded his 21st ODI century, and his fourth consecutive ton against Pakistan, hitting 14 fours and nine sixes after being dropped by leg-spinner Usama Mir (1-82) at 10 in the fifth over.

The 36-year-old started well, racing to his half-century in just 39 balls, while year-old Marsh brought up his 50 in 40 deliveries. The pair beat Shane Watson and Brad Haddin’s opening record for Australia of 183 against Canada in 2011.

Marsh was eventually bowled out for a career-best 121 off 108 balls and reached his second ODI century in style by driving Mohammad Nawaz (0-43) to the cover boundary for four.

The 32-year-old hit 10 boundaries and nine sixes before hitting a short and wide delivery of Pakistani left-arm fast bowler Afridi which flourished at half-time, where Usama completed the catch, partially making up for his costly mistake earlier.

Afridi struck again from the next ball, dismissing Glenn Maxwell for a golden duck, leaving Australia 259-2 in the 34th over and giving Pakistan a ray of hope.

Usama caught and bowled Steve Smith (7) before he managed to get going, while he was a fast bowler Haris Rauf (3-83) made the big break when he finally removed Warner who parachuted a cutter to replace the fielder Shadab Khan in the long run. He fist bumped Afridi as he walked back to the dugout with the crowd at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium on their feet.

After Warner’s dismissal, Australia struggled to build a late partnership, falling from 339-5 in the 45th to 363-9 in the 49th, when Rauf Marnus dismissed Labuschagne (8) with a bouncer and Josh Inglis (13) fell behind. .

Afridi swept the tail, removing Mitchell Starc (2) and Josh Hazlewood (0) with successive deliveries in the final over as the Aussies added just 28 runs to their total in the last five overs.

Pakistan fell short in its response

Shafique hit a half-century 52-ball, the second of his ODI career, as Pakistan made a strong start to their innings but a bumper from Stoinis struck the top edge of his bat and Maxwell completed the catch. Stoinis struck again two overs later, this time to dismiss Pakistan’s other opener Imam.

Captain Babar Azam (18) fell cheaply to Zampa as he attempted a pull shot and a diving Cummins took a sensational catch to dismiss his fellow captain.

While Rizwan anchored the innings, as he so often does, Cummins saw off Saud Shakeel (30) and trapped Zampa Iftikhar Ahmed (26) lbw.

Leg-spinner Zampa struck again two overs later, this time removing Pakistani big hitter Rizwan with four for a half-century.

Hasan Ali hit Starc for a boundary to deep third to take Pakistan past 300 but was dismissed the next ball by the left-armer Australia, who maintained his record of taking a wicket in every World Cup match he played in.

Cummins took the last wicket from Afridi, who hit the ball straight to mid-wicket where Labuschagne sealed the deal.

The win saw Australia move up to fourth in the group table with two wins from four matches, while Pakistan dropped to fifth in net run rate with the same record. The best four teams qualify for the semi-finals.

Babar: We need big mid-market partnerships

Pakistan captain Babar Azam:

“The first 34 overs in the field cost us.

“We dropped Warner and batters like that make them money. Credit to the quicks and spinners for coming back in the last 15, they have hit their lengths and stumps.

“We have small partnerships but needed big ones in the middle. To be honest, in the first ten (overs) we need to get to the target with the ball and partnerships in the middle with the bat.”

Cummins: We set the benchmark

Captain Pat Cummins of Australia:

“That was great. It’s quite tough to play here, but it’s good to win.

“Good from the openers. It set the tone and we want to continue the game like that. The key in ODIs is to keep going.

“Zampa was great and showed his class. He is a wicket-taker. We have set the standard in the last two games and need to keep it that way.”

What’s next?

Australia go to Delhi to confront it The Netherlands on Wednesday, October 25, while Pakistan come across Afghanistan in Chennai on Monday, October 23.

Both matches will be live on Sky Sports Cricket with coverage from 9am, ahead of the first ball at 9.30am.

Watch England vs South Africa live on too Sky Sports Cricket And Sky Sports main event Saturday from 9:00 am (first ball at 9:30 am).

Follow the match on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app with a live text blog and in-game video clips. You can also stream the games with NOW.