CWC 2019: AFG vs AUS Review – Australia starts with a comprehensive win
The wait for a close game in the 2019 World Cup has been extended to another day. Defending champions, Australia, breezed to a comforting seven-wicket win over Afghanistan at County Ground, Bristol. The team in yellow crippled the Afghans with their searing pace in the first half and then chased down the target of 208 runs without taking any risks.
Despite losing wickets in clumps, Afghanistan showed heart in fighting back with solid partnerships. They kept playing their strokes, but the loss of regular wickets pegged them back. Australia was superior to the Asian team in all three departments and the result reflected contrast. Here are a few talking points from the 4th match.
Double duck
Afghanistan has fiery openers in Mohammad Shahzad and Hazratullah Zazai. Both are capable of prolific hitting and are hard to contain. At the top, they were a serious threat to the Australian bowling, but the threat was nipped in bud. Mitchell Starc sent back Shahzad on the third ball of the match, and Pat Cummins followed him by getting Zazai caught behind. The openers returned to the pavilion without scoring a single run.
Zampa magic
After the loss of openers, Rahmat Shah attacked the Australian bowlers with authority. He was severe on anything pitched short and kept the scoreboard moving. It was the legspinner Adam Zampa who stopped his charge. He had earlier broken the third-wicket partnership by getting Hashmatullah Shahidi stumped. The blonde leggie later completed a three-wicket haul by accounting for Rashid Khan.
Rashid and Mujeeb enthral crowds; with the bat
With the score reading 168/8, an early finish was on the cards for Afghanistan. Two magical spinners, Rashid and Mujeeb joined hands to launch an offensive. The duo lighted up the mood of Bristol crowd with quick boundaries. Rashid slammed Zampa for 22 runs and in the following over, Mujeeb extracted 11 off Cummins’ over. The mini-assault helped Afghanistan cross the 200-run mark.
Well begun is half done
In the absence of David Warner, Australia had to find a new opening partner for Aaron Finch. After some trialling, Usman Khawaja found a chance at the top and made the place his own. In the last nine matches, the Australian opening pair crossed 50 four times and went past 100 thrice.
With Warner back, Khawaja dropped down to number three. Warner-Finch continued in the same vein and raised a stand of 96 today which forced Afghanistan on the backfoot. Warner with 89 not out saw the game through in the 35th over.
