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Warner, Marsh hit sparkling tons as Australia post 367
Pakistan staged a very good comeback at the death overs at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore but Australia still managed to put up 367 on the board. David Warner and Mitchell Marsh were involved in a gigantic 259-run opening partnership but Shaheen Afridi’s excellent five-fer ensured Australia didn’t touch 400.
The signs for a run-fest were very clear right in the opening over of the contest when Marsh slammed Shaheen Afridi straight down the ground for his first six. However, things could have turned out differently had the World Cup debutant Usama Mir held on to a skier from Warner. The moment he grassed the easy chance, it was one-way traffic. The two openers were very severe on Haris Rauf in particular as Warner smashed him for a four and a six, which was then followed by a hat-trick of boundaries from the bat of Marsh.
The part-time off-spin of Iftikhar Ahmed wasn’t spared either as Australia scored 82 in the powerplay. Even though the field was spread out, Rauf’s woes continued as he was taken apart for 47 runs in his opening three overs. While Warner was batting with a strike rate over 100 for the major part of his innings, Marsh stepped it up after going past fifty.
Even though Usama Mir found some purchase on the wicket, it wasn’t enough to pose problems as the carnage continued at Chinnaswamy. By the halfway mark, Australia had 172 on the board as Pakistan’s search for the opening breakthrough continued. Eventually, Warner and Marsh became just the third opening pair to register centuries in the same World Cup game as they reached their landmarks off successive deliveries in the same over. It was also Warner’s fourth successive century against Pakistan.
On expected lines, both batters were pretty much going after everything at this point in time before Shaheen finally gave Pakistan some respite. Easily their best bowler on the day, Shaheen struck off consecutive deliveries to dismiss Marsh and Glenn Maxwell despite conceding two sixes earlier in the over. Steve Smith then failed to make use of the reprieve he received from Babar Azam at slip by chipping one straight back at Usama but there was just no stopping Warner.
The veteran’s 8th six of the innings took him past 150 in ODI cricket for the seventh time in his career as Australia set themselves up for an all out assault in the final ten overs. At 297/3 after 40 overs, it did appear like the five-time world champions would go past the 400-run mark. However, Warner’s dismissal for 163 turned the tide as Pakistan clawed back. Rauf, who had conceded 70 runs in his first five overs, struck again with the crucial wicket of Josh Inglis before Shaheen took charge at the death.
Marcus Stoinis missed an attempted scoop off Shaheen to get trapped leg-before-wicket before Marnus Labuschagne hit Rauf straight to the fielder stationed at deep midwicket. In the final over, Shaheen added two more to his tally as Australia managed to add just 27 runs in the last five overs. Despite that poor finish, they would still believe they have enough on the board.
Brief scores:
Australia 367/9 in 50 overs (David Warner 163, Mitchell Marsh 121; Shaheen Afridi 5/54) vs Pakistan