Twitter Reactions: Warner, Finch and Cummins dismiss a determined Pakistan in Taunton

Mohammad Amir's five-wicket haul went in vain.

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David Warner
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David Warner. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Australia, after a couple of wins, lost to India. However, the team, led by Aaron Finch, made an incredible comeback and beat Pakistan by 41 runs at The Cooper Associates County Ground in Taunton. With the victory, the Aussies moved to the second position of the points table. Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Pakistan, on the contrary, would be disappointed and they remain in the eighth position.

Warner and Amir shine

Marcus Stoinis didn’t play the game due to a side strain and the left-handed Shaun Marsh replaced him. Kane Richardson also came in place of Adam Zampa. Pakistan also went in with the young Shaheen Shah Afridi, replacing Shadab Khan. Their decision to field first backfired at least in the first half of the Australian innings. The openers Aaron Finch and David Warner put on a stand of 146 off  22.1 overs.  

Finch attacked the bowling early on even as Warner took his time. Finch notched his fifty off 63 balls and eventually got out to Mohammad Amir after an 84-ball 82. After his dismissal, Warner got to his fifty off 51 and even went on to score his 15th ODI century off 102 balls. Steve Smith couldn’t get going as Mohammad Hafeez nipped him out. Glenn Maxwell was cleaned up by Afridi after he got a 10-ball 20.

Afridi sent Warner packing after which Australia lost momentum. In the last 11.1 overs, the Aussies could only manage 65 runs, completely losing the plot. The in-form Amir raced to his maiden five-wicket haul in ODI cricket and conceded a mere 30 runs with a couple of maidens. Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja, and Alex Carey scored 23, 18 and 20 respectively, but couldn’t arrest Australia’s slump.

Aussies romp past Pakistan

Pakistan got off to the worst possible start as Pat Cummins found Fakhar Zaman’s outside edge in the third over. Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq tried to counter the Aussie pace attack and put on 54 runs for the second wicket. In the 11th over, Babar mistimed one off Nathan Coulter-Nile. Azam managed 30 runs off 28 with seven boundaries. Imam and Hafeez put their heads down and added 80 runs together.

Imam got to his fifty in 73 balls and just when he was looking to accelerate, Cummins got rid of him. Hafeez was also looking good for a half-century, but he fell for 46 off 49. Part-timer Finch nipped him out. Cummins bowled a vicious in-swinger to dismiss Shoaib Malik for a duck. Kane Richardson picked up his first wicket in the form of Asif Ali. From 136/2, Pakistan slumped to 160/6 in a space of 29 deliveries.

Hasan Ali came out firing on all cylinders and smacked three fours and as many sixes. However, he played one shot too many and got out to Richardson. Wahab Riaz played sensibly and scored 45 off 39 with two fours and three sixes. Starc’s ninth over turned out to be a crucial one as he pinned both Wahab and Amir. A direct throw from Maxwell sent Sarfaraz back for 40 to bring the curtains down on the game.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the encounter

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