Twitter Reactions: England set the final date with New Zealand with a thumping win over Australia

It was supposed to be a humdinger between England and Australia in the second semi-final. But the World Cup hosts have easily brushed aside their arch-rivals to romp into the final of the tournament. They will face New Zealand at the iconic Lord’s and clearly, not many would’ve seen this face-off coming in the final the way league stage had panned out.

The chase, many thought, would be tricky for England just like it was India the other day against the Kiwis. But their opening duo Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy literally ripped apart the Australian bowlers. After starting off cautiously, Roy literally smacked the ball out of the park at will. In no time, the runs started to come easily and Aaron Finch was out of ideas.

In desperation, he introduced Steve Smith into the attack and things went from bad to worse for Australia. Roy smashed three consecutive sixes to their former captain and also crossed the 50-run mark in the process. Mitchell Starc, however, came back for his third spell to pin Bairstow in front of the stumps. Soon Jason Roy who was looking good for a century got out in a hilarious way.

At 147/2, Australia sensed a comeback. But Eoin Morgan and Joe Root were determined and they made sure that there was no collapse for England. The duo scored runs easily after settling in and stitched an unbeaten stand of 79 runs for the third wicket to end the game in the 33rd over itself.

Smith helps Australia post 223

Earlier, Australia won the all-important toss and opted to bat first. But England’s new ball bowlers Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer were exceptional, to say the least. They were spot on with their lengths and extracted swing. And the result was Aaron Finch bagging a golden duck while David Warner and Peter Handscomb not adding much to the team’s score. At 14/3, Australia were in doldrums and Steve Smith was at the helm not for the first time in the tournament.

Alex Carey was promoted up the batting order and the left-hander didn’t disappoint at all. Carey also got hit on his chin from a Jofra Archer bouncer and had to play with his face covered. He fought it out despite the swelling increasing on his face to stitch a brilliant partnership with Smith. Both of them added 103 runs for the fourth wicket to bring the innings back on track.

But Carey got out at the wrong time for Australia. He was just hitting the ball sweetly putting the leg-spinner Adil Rashid under pressure and was dismissed by the same bowler on 46. Marcus Stoinis was then clueless about the googly from Rashid and bagged a second ball duck. The rebuilding phase once again began for Australia even as Smith went past the 50-run mark.

Glenn Maxwell’s frustrating story continued as he got in and got out for the umpteenth time in his career. Pat Cummins was also soon foxed by Rashid as the leggie ended with 3/54 in his 10 overs and it also left Australia struggling at 166/7 in the 38th over. Smith once again had to go into the shell along with Mitchell Starc and the duo did fairly well to put on another fifty-run partnership.

However, as it was the story of the whole innings, the wicket fell just when the things were going well for the Men in Yellow. Smith was run-out on 85 courtesy a brilliance from Jos Buttler from behind the stumps and Australia’s innings derailed. They were bundled out for 223 runs in 49 overs as Woakes finished with 3/20 on his home ground while the other bowlers also chipped in well.

The score wasn’t enough by any means as England openers started off well and it was never going to be tough for the hosts since then to make it to the final.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: