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AUS vs AFG, World Cup 2019: Top performances: David Warner’s 89 runs, Adam Zampa’s 3 wickets and more
After formidable bowling performances, Australian batsmen made sure to finish the match quite comfortably in their first World Cup match against Afghanistan
Australia’s dominating show continued to be on display as they defeated Afghanistan in their first World Cup match on Saturday at Oval. The Men in Yellow remained unbeaten in the warm-up games after coming from an excellent ODI series against Pakistan. Now with this win, they have made it quite clear that another World trophy is not too far away from them. However, it won’t be easy as the Aussies will have to face strong opponents in the upcoming matches.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, will have to work on a few crucial things to make a strong comeback. They were fragile in the field while their top and middle-order batsmen also had a disappointing outing. Although the match ended as a one-sided affair, there were some good performances on display. Here we look at some of them.
Adam Zampa and Pat Cummins’ 3-wicket-haul
Australia started brilliantly with the ball after Afghanistan chose to bat first at the flat looking strip of Oval. Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins struck in their first overs, reducing opposition to 5-2. Then after a small partnership, it was leggie, Adam Zampa who rattled the Afghan middle-order. The youngster scalped three wickets before Cummins returned to bundle the tail.
Najibullah Zadran’s fiery fifty
After top and middle-order collapsed, it was Najibullah who came to the rescue. The southpaw smashed a few big blows in his 49-ball 51 runs to take Afghanistan to a fighting 207-run total. He was well supported by all-rounder Rashid Khan who also contributed quick cameo of 27 runs in 11 balls.
Warner’s unbeaten 89 runs on return
After remaining out of Aussie colors for over a year, David Warner returned with a bang. The left-handed batsman played a well-composed knock of 89 runs to take Australia home comfortably. It was, however, quite slow scored one for Warner who likes to keep strike-rate up more often than not. Captain Aaron Finch also contributed quickfire 64 runs to the chase. Australia, lastly, chased down the total in 38.2 overs with 7 wickets in hand.
