Finch leads from the front as Australia compound England’s misery
Image source — Hindustan
Aaron Finch’s century and Jason Behrendorff’s five wicket haul guided Australia to a 64-run win against arch-rivals England, sealing their spot in the semi-finals. Having been sent into bat by England, the Australian openers Aaron Finch and David Warner continued their impressive run of form. Yet again, timing and placement were the key factors in their 123-run partnership. Both the batsmen initially rode their luck with some streaky edges. The pitch was offering some movement and bounce in the early overs.
Jofra Archer and Mark Wood were too short and wide, giving ample room and time for the Aussie batsmen to hit along the line and drive. England fought back after Warner’s wicket, not allowing Usman Khawaja and Finch to play freely. This also resulted in their wickets, Khawaja castled by a Stokes yorker and Finch top-edging a bouncer from Archer for 100. Mark Wood got the dangerous Maxwell caught behind and some good bowling at the death restricted Australia. Speedy cameos from Steve Smith and Alex Carey got Australia to 285/7.
Image source — Hindustan Times
Jason Behrendorff and Mitchell Starc ripped into the England top order. Behrendorff bowled an inswinging yorker to Vince’s stumps and Mitchell Starc got the big wickets of Joe Root and Eoin Morgan. Joe Root was trapped LBW to a full in-swinger and Morgan fell to a bouncer. Ben Stokes kept England in the game, stitching partnerships with Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes, who got starts but could not hang on. Michell Starc castled Ben Stokes with the perfect yorker. Behrendorff came back and cleaned the tail with some changes of pace and good use of angles.
England now have a glaring batting weakness in tough pitches and they will look to iron out the issues. Their batsmen are getting out to loose shots and they are not able to handle the pressure in crunch situations.
Read More — The Heavyweight Clash England vs Australia Preview
Analysis:-
At the powerplay, the usually compact England bowlers were wayward. They bowled short and wide and failed to make the most of the swinging conditions. They allowed the top order to cut loose and although they came back strongly, some top class bowling by Australia prevented their famed batting order from easing to a win.
The selection of Behrendorff over Coulter-Nile enabled Pat Cummins to bowl in the middle overs. Behrendorff is excellent in the powerplay and gets swing on any surface.
Mitchell Starc was on fire. 42% of his deliveries were aimed at the stumps. This figure would have been higher if not for Australia’s tactic of using short balls to Eoin Morgan. Morgan struggles to play short balls early in his innings and Mitchell Starc tested him and got his wicket with a bouncer.
Captain Morgan lamented England’s inability to stick to the basics and build partnerships while chasing. England’s path to the Semi-final becomes tricky after this loss as they face India and New Zealand next.
After being the first team to secure a semi-final place, Australia will look to give their bench some game-time in their remaining fixtures.
Read More — Best Spells Of ICC WC 2019 Till Match 30
Originally published at Sporcial.
