-
- Published: October 20, 2023 18:03
New Delhi: Despite late strikes from Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf’s late strikes Australia still managed to reach a mammoth total of 367 for 9 in 50 overs against Pakistan.
David Warner was the highlight of the Australian innings as after completing his century off Md. Nawaz’s ball, he celebrated it with the infamous ‘Puspha’ style, completely winning the crowd and the internet over.
Check out the epic celebration video below:
David Warner doing Pushpa celebration after the hundred.#AUSvsPAK pic.twitter.com/3tMbwJUhMG
— Mini⁴⁴⁴ (@cricminiindia) October 20, 2023
Australia starts off strong
Earlier, the Pakistani skipper Babar Azam won the toss and invited the Australian team to bat first on a flat Bengaluru track.
Australia accepted the invitation with open arms as the Aussie opening pair of Mitchell Marsh and David Warner added 259 runs for the first wicket, giving the Pakistani bowlers all sorts of possible nightmares.
Both Mitchell Marsh (121) and David Warner (163), scored daddy hundreds to set the Australian batting on a comfortable path of 400+ score.
Hundred by David Warner.
Hundred by Mitchell Marsh.– Clueless Pakistani bowling at the Chinnaswamy Stadium! pic.twitter.com/63ATeFpYn7
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 20, 2023
Mitchell Marsh completes his first World Cup and his second overall ODI century in his destructive 121 runs innings off 108 deliveries before getting out to Shaheen Afridi.
HUNDRED BY THE BIRTHDAY BOY…!!!
Marsh 🔥🔥🔥
What a thunderous century by Mitchell Marsh – one of the best knocks of the tournament. Sheer power striking.#AUSvsPAK— VINEETH𓃵🦖 (@sololoveee) October 20, 2023
On the other hand, David Warner received a lifeline when the debutante Usman Mir dropped his easy catch in the fifth over when he was only on 10 runs. This catch cost Pakistan an additional 153 runs as the southpaw went on to score a monstrous 163 off 124 deliveries before getting dismissed in the 43rd over.
However, despite the great start given by the openers, the rest of the Australian batting line-up couldn’t capitalize the momentum and finished with a total of 367 on the board, giving the Pakistani team 368 runs to chase.
Late strikes from Pakistan
Despite the early onslaught by the Australian openers Mitchell Marsh and David Warner, the Pakistani bowlers made a strong comeback in the last 10 overs.
The Australian, what at point looked like a possible 400-450 or even 500, when the openers were batting Pakistan managed to hold their momentum and restrict the innings to a total of 367.
Pakistan took 6 wickets of Australia at just 38 runs towards the end, restricting them from 325 for 3 to 363 for 9 at one point.
Shaheen Afridi was Pakistan’s most successful bowler with 5 wickets, while despite a horrible start, Haris Rauf also managed three wickets for himself, and the debutante Usman Mir also got one wicket under his belt.
they mocked him for only having Odi fifers vs bangladesh and zimbabwe, so he got one against Australia in the WC on a batting paradise 🫡pic.twitter.com/9x6tY4pu0s
— rizzy stan (@rizzystan) October 20, 2023
With this great comeback, the Pakistani bowlers managed to get back some much-needed momentum in the match as surely the Pakistani batsmen will now surely back themselves to chase down the target.
