World Cup 2019: Australia beat Pakistan by 41 runs to register 3rd win
After losing to India in their last match, Australia returned to winning ways at the World Cup 2019 by defeating Pakistan by 41 runs at the County Ground, Taunton on Wednesday.
Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss and decided to field first. The Australian openers David Warner and Aaron Finch got off to a steady start, and at the end of 10 overs the score read 56 for 0.
Australian captain Finch reached his fifty off 63 balls while Warner completed his fifty in quick time, off 51 balls. Mohammad Aamir got the breakthrough by dismissing Finch for 82; Finch and Warner had laid the foundation, adding 146 runs in 22.1 overs.
Steven Smith departed early and coming in at number 4, Glenn Maxwell scored a quickfire 20 off 10 balls. On the other hand, Warner played with positive intent and reached his century off 102 balls.
From 223 for 3, the Pakistani bowlers made a great comeback to scalp wickets at regular intervals and bowl out Australia for 307 in 49 overs. Aamir was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan with figures of 5 for 30 in 10 overs.
Chasing the target of 308, it was a perfect start for the Australian team as Pat Cummins got the early breakthrough, dismissing Fakhar Zaman for 0. Coming in at number 3, Babar Azam looked in aggressive touch with some attacking stroke-play; At the end of 10 overs, Pakistan were 51 for 1.
Nathan Coulter-Nile struck soon after by dismissing Azam for 30. Azam and Imam-ul-Haq had added 54 runs for the 2nd wicket.
Mohammad Hafeez then came to the crease and put some pressure on the Australian bowling line-up. Imam meanwhile reached his fifty off 73 balls. But Cummins got another breakthrough, dismissing Imam for 53; Imam and Hafeez had added 80 runs for the 3rd wicket.
The Australia bowlers got back into the game by picking the wickets of Hafeez, Shoaib Malik and Asif Ali to reduce Pakistan to 160 for 6. Hasan Ali then came to the crease and flayed the bowlers, scoring a rapid 32 off 15 balls. Hasan and Sarfaraz Ahmed added 40 runs for the 7th wicket.
Wahab Riaz continued in the same vein and threatened to bring Pakistan close to Australia's total. Sarfaraz gave him full support at the other end, and for a moment it looked like the game was slipping from Australia's grasp.
But Mitchell Starc provided the important breakthrough, dismissing Riaz for 45. Riaz and Sarfaraz had added 64 runs for the 8th wicket.
In the same over, Starc dismissed Aamir for 0 to effectively kill the contest.
A brilliant run out by Glenn Maxwell got rid of Sarfaraz for 45 to give Australia a 41-run win.
Brief scores: Australia 307 in 49 overs (David Warner 107, Aaron Finch 82, Mohammad Aamir 5/30) beat Pakistan 266 in 45.4 overs (Imam-ul-Haq 53, Sarfaraz Ahmed 45, Mohammad Hafeez 46, Pat Cummins 3/33, Mitchell Starc 2/43) by 41 runs.
Also see - IND vs PAK head to head stats
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