Twitter Reactions: Top knocks from Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh help Australia ace a steep chase in Sharjah

The Australian team seems to be going from strength to strength as the World Cup 2019 is approaching. After having defeated India at their home 3-2, the Kangaroos made a roaring start against Pakistan as well. Terrific knocks from Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh helped them register an 8-wicket win in the first ODI. The Australian skipper registered his 12th ODI century in this match.

In the last two years, Australia didn’t start too well in a series while playing away from home. This victory should boost their confidence a great deal. As far as Pakistan is concerned, they have a few aspects to reflect back upon and correct them before going ahead. Despite getting a good start, they didn’t finish well with the bat. Their bowlers seemed to have lacked a flare to challenge the Australian batsmen.

Haris Sohail registers his maiden ODI century

Pakistan is in experimentation mode and has rested many of its senior players. The team, led by Shoaib Malik, chose to bat first after winning the toss. The openers added 35 runs before Nathan Lyon trapped Imam-ul-Haq for 17 runs. His partner, Shan Masood, scored 40 runs off 60 balls in the match. But, the best knock of the team came from the willow of Haris Sohail.

The southpaw played cautious cricket and lashed out on anything that was loose. He kept rotating the strike at regular intervals and registered his maiden ODI century. While he remained unbeaten on 101, Umar Akmal was impressive in his comeback game. He scored a quickfire 48 but missed out on making it big. Imad Wasim scored 28 runs off 13 balls towards the end that pushed Pakistan’s score to 280/5 after 50 overs.

An easy chase for Australia; Aaron Finch getting back into his zone

In the chase, Australia lost the man in-form, Usman Khawaja early for just 24 runs. But Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh built a wonderful partnership. They added 172 runs together and Finch also got to his century in the process. He scored 116 runs before Mohammad Abbas picked him as his first ODI wicket. After he fell, Marsh and Peter Handscomb ensured that they didn’t lose any wickets further.

Marsh was unbeaten on 91 and missed out on a well deserved century. Handscomb went hard at the other end and scored 30 runs which helped Australia chase down the target with an over to spare. Twitterati was thrilled with this victory and congratulated Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh for their knocks.

Here is how Twitterati reacted:

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