Twitter Reactions: David Warner shines on comeback as Australia keep spirited Afghanistan at bay

The defending champions Australia took the field in the ongoing World Cup for the first time on Saturday at the County Ground in Bristol. They were challenged by Afghanistan, one of the most improved teams in the last few years, who went down fighting in a rather one-sided contest. The Men in Yellow were absolutely professional in getting the job with the ball first and then the ball as they won the match by seven wickets. Fittingly, for Australia, the comeback man David Warner remained unbeaten till the end.

Earlier in the day, Afghanistan won the toss and took a brave decision to bat first. But they were jolted with a couple of massive blows in the first two overs itself. Mohammad Shahzad strangely tried to play across the line to Mitchell Starc’s full-length inswinging delivery and saw his off-stump getting demolished. Hazratullah Zazai, on the other hand, wafted at a harmless ball in the very next over from Pat Cummins and the catch was plucked safely by Alex Carey.

At 5/2, things were looking ominous for Afghanistan. But Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi calmed the nerves down. They weathered the storm by bravely playing out the opening spell of Starc and Cummins. The duo added 51 runs for the third wicket before Shahidi was lured out of his crease by Adam Zampa only to get stumped. There was a mini-collapse here as they were quickly reduced to 77/5 from 56/2.

Najibullah’s counterpunch

Yet another early finish to the game was in the offing at this stage. But the skipper Gulbadin Naib and Najibullah Zadran, who played ahead of Asghar Afghan, put up a brilliant fight to deny Australia any wicket for next 13 overs or so. Najib was enterprising in his shot selection and took the attack to the much famed Aussie bowlers. He took a special liking towards the leggie Zampa smashing him for 22 runs in a single over.

The momentum changed from this over, as Naib also started playing his shots. The period saw Afghanistan dominating the proceedings but it was a matter of only one wicket for Australia to trigger a collapse. Najibullah got to an excellent half-century but lost his composure then to give away his wicket to Marcus Stoinis. In the same over, Naib was bounced out cleverly by the Aussie and suddenly Afghanistan looked down the barrel.

Again at 166/8, things should’ve finished early. But Rashid Khan showed heart to slam 27 off just 11 deliveries as he scored 21 runs off Stoinis’ over. Eventually, Afghanistan were bundled out for 207 runs in the 39th over and must have rued not playing out their quota of overs to post a competitive total on the board.

Warner and Finch lead the chase

This encounter proved to be a good one for Australia in terms of seaming in their comeback men Steve Smith and David Warner superbly in the setup in an ODI. The latter opened the innings along with the skipper Aaron Finch and Afghanistan pacers were no harm to the barring Hamid Hassan. The veteran cricketer steamed in relentlessly to hit the right channels and troubled the batsmen, especially, Warner consistently.

He should’ve got the southpaw in the first powerplay but the edge was just wide of the first slip and the second slip wasn’t stationed. This was the only moment when the Asian side looked like picking a wicket. Finch took the attack to them to slam an aggressive half-century and was looking ominous before Naib foxed him with a slower delivery in the 17th over on 66.

Until this time, Warner took this time to settle in and then played his strokes with freedom. Usman Khawaja was pinned in front of the stumps by the leggie Rashid Khan which only brought the ever so solid Steve Smith to the crease. However, by this time, the result was a foregone conclusion. The comeback duo stitched a stand of 49 runs with Smith getting out with only three runs needing. Australia got two of the most important points against their name with Glenn Maxwell and Warner completed the formalities.

Warner missed out on a deserved century and remained unbeaten on 89 but he will be delighted with his grand comeback even as Smith got the feel of things at number four before getting out on 18. Afghanistan, meanwhile, should be proud of their effort as they made Australia earn their victory. But to their own admission, they could’ve been better on the day.

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