World Cup 2019: England crush Australia to set up final clash with New Zealand
England produced a dominant display at Edgbaston to knock defending champions Australia out of the 2019 World Cup.
Australian captain Aaron Finch won the toss and decided to bat first. However, that decision backfired as Jofra Archer dismissed the skipper for 0. Chris Woakes then got the two big wickets of David Warner and Peter Handscomb to put Australia under immense pressure.
Steve Smith and Alex Carey steadied the Australian ship, guiding them to 27 for 3 at the end of 10 overs.
Smith and Carey continued to build a partnership but just when things began to look dangerous for England, Adil Rashid struck, dismissing the southpaw for 46.
In the same over, Rashid dismissed Marcus Stoinis to stall the Australian progress. At the other end, Smith reached his fifty off 72 balls.
Glenn Maxwell then arrived at the crease and played with intent. However, he was dismissed by Archer for 22 as Australia began crumbling again.
Mitchell Starc came to the Aussies' rescue and added 51 runs for the 8th wicket with Smith. Smith was eventually run out by Jos Buttler for 85 and England managed to restrict Australia to just 223. Woakes and Rashid took three wickets each while Archer scalped two.
Chasing a modest target of 224, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow got England off to a flying start. The explosive Roy brought up another half-century, putting the Australian bowlers to the sword.
Starc got the first breakthrough, dismissing Bairstow for 34. Roy continued to play positively but was dismissed in controversial fashion for 85.
The England captain Eoin Morgan and Joe Root then showed their class, adding 79 runs for the 3rd wicket and guiding their side to a comfortable victory with 107 balls to spare.
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