ICC World Cup 2019, Match 32: England vs Australia – Who Said What

Australia turned up with a dominating performance against England at the Lord’s and won the game by 64 runs. Most importantly, Aaron Finch and Co confirmed themselves a berth in the semis of the 2019 World Cup. For the hosts, they are in a bit of doldrums after back-to-back defeats. To make things scarier, their last two matches are versus India and New Zealand, both of whom are unbeaten thus far.

Finch carries the Aussies

Under overcast conditions, Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes troubled the Aussie openers- David Warner and Aaron Finch. But both batsmen didn’t throw in the towel and put on a 123-run stand. Moeen Ali made the important breakthrough as he got Warner for 53. Usman Khawaja perished to a rather loose stroke off Ben Stokes. However, it was Jofra Archer, who delivered the body blow, dismissing Finch.

Finch accumulated his second ton of this World Cup and his knock was laced with 11 fours and a couple of sixes. Glenn Maxwell was caught in two minds and he gave a simple catch to Jos Buttler off Mark Wood. Steve Smith smacked five fours and started to get going after which Chris Woakes removed the big fish. Nevertheless, Alex Carey played a vital knock of 38 off 27 and took his team to 285 in 50 overs.

Behrendorff produces a magical spell

Jason Behrendorff castled James Vince for a golden duck to start proceedings. Thereafter, Mitchell Starc came to the party and removed Joe Root and Eoin Morgan to put England’s run-chase in the shambles. Jonny Bairstow looked good for 27, but Behrendorff cut short his knock. Nevertheless, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes didn’t throw in the towel and put on 71 together to bring their team back in the encounter.

Marcus Stoinis scalped Buttler to separate the duo. Stokes showed guts and got his second successive fifty. He scored a well-complied 89 and it needed a deadly Yorker from Mitchell Starc to end his promising inning. The English run-chase couldn’t gather any momentum from there on it was one-way traffic towards the Aussies. Behrendorff notched a five-wicket haul as the Brits folded on 221 in 44.5 overs.

Aaron Finch, the Australian skipper and Player of the Match, said

As Man of the Match: Didn’t play too badly, anytime you contribute to a team win is special. I think that is the most important thing. Nice to get a hundred in a win. Wicket was seaming around a bit initially, Woaksey bowled a hell of a spell upfront, he bowled 7 overs in a row, we were hoping that he will quit after 5 but he kept coming. Laid a reasonable foundation with Davey(Warner). Bit more confidence when you walk out when you know you have done well against an opposition. It was nipping around, it was seaming. I think we played quite well. We were as tight as we could and we tried to cash in on the width.

As Captain: Very happy. Can’t win the tournament if you don’t make the semis. Have played some good cricket so far. England are a standout side. They can take you apart with the ball and bat. Stokesy when he gets in can be brutal on an attack. Behrendorff bowled beautifully. Was still a toss-up with Pat Cummins doing well with the new ball too. But when you’ve got a guy who can swing the ball. Nathan Lyon was brilliant. Didn’t get the rewards but he was outstanding. People are saying it’s not the Warner of old, but the wickets we’ve got in this tournament have demanded respect. He looked at his best today. We’re confident with what we’ve got. There’s plenty to suggest that the way to go about it is the right way to do it. Don’t think any method works every single day.

Eoin Morgan, the England skipper, said

A lot of today, we were outplayed. Thought we bowled well upfront. Little bit unlucky as Australia played and missed a lot. They built a fantastic partnership. Wicket got a little bit better, but still challenging. Wicket this morning was soft when we started. Choosing to bat would’ve been a horrific decision. Finch played really well, capitalized on the start he got. We pegged it back really well. For a long time it looked like they’d get 330. When you’re 20/3, it pegs you back substantially. Given the circumstances, it’s not hugely disappointing. Our fate is in our own hands. Everything we need to turn around is simple. Won’t search for anything that’s not there.