Warner punishes sloppy Pakistan as Australia weather a late storm

David Warner and Aaron Finch’s 146 run opening stand paved the way for Australia to ease to 307. The way they were batting, 350 looked gettable but Mohammad Amir’s fifer restricted them at the death.

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Analysis:-

Pakistan won the toss of Pakistan vs Australia match and skipper Sarfaraz Khan sent the Aussies in to bat. There were some thick clouds and a green pitch to greet the Australian openers, indicating ominous signs. Both teams went in with four fast bowlers, Kane Richardson came in for Adam Zampa and Shaheen Afridi was picked ahead of Shadab Khan. Australia replaced the injured Marcus Stoinis with Shaun Marsh to beef up their middle order.

Dropping the frontline spinners was a surprising decision, given that Taunton is a spin-friendly wicket. It is often called ‘Cyderbad’ and Somerset always play with two spinners, even on green tops. Both the teams took some element of risk by handing Shaheen and Kane their first World Cup games.

During Pakistan vs Australia match Pakistan missed a golden opportunity of unleashing Wahab Riaz on the Aussie openers. The Pakistan quick bowled an outstanding spell the last time these sides met in a World Cup. Shaheen Afridi was ineffective and Finch and Warner attacked without any hesitation. They raced to their 10th 50+ partnership in 17 innings as openers. Finch was brutal to anything short and Warner used timing to gracefully pierce the gaps. Only Mohammad Amir stood out among the misfiring pacers, bowling a tight line. Asif Ali put down Warner at first slip. Pakistan’s sole spinner Mohammad Hafeez was dispatched with disdain as an aggressive Finch complemented the serene Warner.

In the pre-match press conference, Aaron Finch had said that the ‘explosive’ Warner is yet to arrive. Since the IPL, Warner has valued his wicket and has been very calculative in picking the bowlers and gaps and he has been equally affective. Finch’s dismissal saw Australia huff and puff past 300, rather than powering their way to a more comfortable score. Maxwell and Carey played crucial cameos but fell to soft dismissals. Yet again, Steve Smith walked in ahead of Khawaja at one-drop and this pushed Khawaja down to #6, a position he is not used to. The lack of a finisher is evident in this Australian team. If Khawaja comes in at 3 and Smith at 4, Maxwell can do the finishing job.

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In reply, Pakistan lost Fakhar Zaman to a careless cut. Babar Azam unfurled some splendid drives. He looked gracious during his brief stay but it was a bouncer from Coulter-Nile which snared him. Imam-Ul-Haq fought his way to 50 but gloved a pull to Carey. Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik soon fell in quick succession as the Aussie pacers stuck to their plan of bowling short and forcing errors from the batsmen. Hasan Ali and Wahab Riaz entertained the crowd with some pinch-hitting but at the end, Australia had too much on the board for Pakistan.

Australia will hope for Stoinis to recover for their clash with Sri Lanka on the 15th. Pakistan must address their poor bowling and fielding performance before they face India on the 16th.

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Originally published at Sporcial.