Twitter Reactions: England knock Australia out of Champions Trophy

This game didn’t just have the fate of the Australian team to decide but a team from Asia who put up a spirited performance around 24 hours ago were watching this game with more eagerness than they would’ve ever watched an England vs Australia game. They deserved to make it through and England skipper Eoin Morgan and allrounder Ben Stokes ensured it was the Tigers rejoicing and not the Kangaroos.

Morgan won the toss and asked the Aussies to bat first – of course he trusted his team’s chasing abilities and doubted it would rain. Australia had a good start though David Warner fell early for 21, Aaron Finch and Steve Smith added 96 runs for the second wicket as both the batsmen scored half centuries but once this stand was broken there were just starts and nothing substantial.

At 277/9 in 50 overs the Australians certainly knew they were short on the board but Steve Smith would’ve told his bowlers it was now or never, they are the world champions and being knocked out of the league stages of the Champions Trophy would certainly mark a black spot on their rein.

If the English fans thought 277 would be a walk in the park for the line-up that had chased down 300 and 306 with plenty of wickets in hand they were in for a surprise as Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood rattled up the top order to reduce them to 35/3 but there was a rain interruption and that completely changed the course of the game.

Morgan and Stokes were at the crease now and the only concept of play in their books is counterattacking. They took on the Aussie bowlers and left them panting, both didn’t just get to their half centuries but also brought England back in the drivers seat. When pushed to the wall Smith & Co. couldn’t dish a challenge tough enough to overhaul the duo.

Their 159-run partnership took them to the doorsteps of win as Morgan was run out on 87 while Stokes went on to complete his 3rd ODI ton. Jos Buttler scored a handy 29 at No.6 to take England to 240/4 in 40.2 overs. It rained once again and no further play was possible since the hosts were 40 runs ahead of the D/L par score they won the game and the Aussies will take the first flight back home!

Here is how Twitterati reacted during the course of the game: