English
Aaron Finch and Mitchell Marsh led Australia’s charge as they beat England by 111 runs in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Match 2 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Saturday. The Group A battle between the arch-rivals happened to be a one-sided contest, much like it was expected to be. (Also Watch: Full Highlights of Aaron Finch’s 135 here)
England skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to field. The ground was slightly damp following continuous rainfall overnight. However, the conditions had become clear for play on Saturday. The stadium was jam-packed with a crowd of over 90,000 coming to witness the first world cup match this year in Australia. (Check the Points Table of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 here)
James Anderson and Stuart Broad started off well, but time and again faulted with their length allowing David Warner and Aaron Finch to race away to a quick 50-run partnership for the opening wicket. However, Broad suddenly found his mojo back and bowled couple of unplayable overs. In the first of those two overs, he managed to dismiss David Warner and Shane Watson off consecutive deliveries. Steve Smith too couldn’t stick around for long and Australia were reduced for 70 for three in 10.3 overs.
Aaron Finch, who was dropped in the first over of the match went on to consolidate the innings with the help of skipper George Bailey. After a cautious start to the partnership, Finch took over the responsibility of going after the bowling. The muscular opener didn’t simply find gaps or hit over the top; he bludgeoned the bowling. He scored 135 runs included 12 boundaries and three massive sixes, before a direct hit by Eoin Morgan abruptly brought an end to a fantastic knock. We walked back to the pavilion to a standing ovation by the MCG crowd.
With his dismissal, a 146-run stand also came to an end for the fourth wicket. Bailey followed soon, giving England a momentary high in the innings before Glenn Maxwell put up his own show. With Mitchell Marsh and Brad Haddin for company he took on the English bowlers in the last 10 overs to score 1 40-ball 66. However, the most bizarre moment of the day was Steven Finn getting a hat-trick off the last three balls of the innings. There was nothing great about the bowling, worthy of a hat-trick. But the batsmen – Brad Haddin, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson threw their bat at everything and ended up giving their wickets away off three consecutive deliveries.
Needing 343 runs to win, England were never in the hunt following the dismissal of opener Moeen Ali. Like so often he does, the left-handed opener threw his wicket away after helping England get off to a good start. What followed then was another unlikely success story for a bowler. Mitchell Marsh with his ordinary medium pacer bagged five wickets, leaving England reeling at 92 for six. James Taylor and Chris Woakes helped the Poms reconstruct their innings, but the result was inevitable even at that point. They simply delayed it.
Brief scores: Australia 342 for 9 in 50 overs (Aaron Finch 135, Glenn Maxwell 66; Steven Finn 5 for 71) beat England 231 in 41.5 Overs (James Taylor 98*, Chris Woakes 37; Mitchell Marsh 5 for 33) by 111 runs
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