Daily Times

David Warner was neither booed nor questioned about his approach at Taunton as Pakistan bore the brunt of his return to form, as the southpaw scored a century in difficult circumstances here Wednesday. Pat Cummins, then turned on the heat with telling blows at the top of the innings, to help round off a ruthless performance and register a 41-run win against Pakistan in the 2019 ICC World Cup. After a couple of days of incessant rain, it was a case of third time lucky at the ICC World Cup as Taunton, as finally play was possible at the venue, that allowed everyone to get back to what they were there for – cricket.

Pakistan won the toss and promptly put Australia into bat. Sarfaraz Ahmed’s decision seemed spot on as Mohammad Amir steamed in for a very probing first over to skipper Aaron Finch, before Shaheen Shah Afridi gave him a chance to free his arms – and Finch obliged to start off a 17-run fourth over with a six and open the floodgates.

Finch and Warner found their groove soon, or were rather given more than a helping hand in recovering their form. The duo shared a first-wicket stand of 146 — the highest partnership for any wicket at this World Cup till now – and laid the foundations for a mammoth score. In the process, Warner (107), who copped flak for his slow knock against India, silenced his critics by notching up his first century in ODIs since completing his ban for ball-tampering off 102 balls. Finch should have been out for 26 when he edged Wahab Riaz only for first slip Asif Ali to floor a head-high catch. He was dropped again on 44 when wicket-keeper Sarfaraz could not hold a tough chance following an edged cut off Mohammad Hafeez’s second ball. The captain cashed in and with the help of six boundaries and four maximums scored 82 before miscuing an attempted big hit was gobbled up by Hafeez, much to the relief of Amir, who took five wickets, and the rest of the team.

Pakistan recovered from a poor start to limit Australia’s total, and they were well in contention as they reached 136-2 in reply. When Imam-ul-Haq was caught down the leg side off a wide delivery having just reached his half century and Hafeez fell just short of his when he hit a Finch full toss straight to deep square leg, Pakistan’s chances faded. But a thrilling counter-attack started by Hasan Ali and continued by skipper Sarfaraz and Riaz put them right back in contention at 264-7 with six overs left. Mitchell Starc settled Australian nerves when he had Riaz caught behind for 45 and two balls later bowled Amir before Sarfaraz was run out for 40 as Pakistan were dismissed for 266.