'Awesome’ Australia punish Pakistan for fielding lapses in must-win game

Player of the match, David Warner described Australia’s 62-run win over a spirited Pakistan as ‘awesome’ as he paid tribute to the overall performance of the team that propelled the former champions to fourth position on the table at the Cricket World Cup.

Warner struck a captivating 163 runs as he shared a stand of 259 for the first wicket with Mitchell Marsh, who made 121, before Pakistan fought back through Shaheen Shah Afridi (5-54) to restrict the Aussies to 367 for nine, in 50 overs.

Needing to chase a record total for the second time in the tournament after their win against Sri Lanka, Imam-ul-Haq (70) and Abdullah Shafique (64) gave Pakistan a confident start but Adam Zampa spun his magic to deny them a second historic win.

Pakistan was dismissed for 305 in 45.3 overs as Zampa bagged four wickets for 53 runs in his match-winning 10-over spell.

"It was awesome. We thought the threat was going to be the first five or six overs with the new ball then once we got the pace of the wicket, we were going to target the next guys that came on,” said Warner.

"For us to go out there and put in a performance and a score on the board like that is very pleasing."

However, the dashing opener admitted that Australia needed to sort out their lower order after the innings collapsed after his dismissal with the score on 324 for four.

Australia lost the last six wickets falling for just 38 runs.

Commenting on what was the crux of his innings of 153 off 124 deliveries Warner remarked: "Just committing and backing my skills. It helps when you're hitting the ball out of the middle. Playing on a ground like this, you've got to take those chances. Every run's valuable too and part of my DNA is running fast between the wickets.

"It was just good to get out there and get a partnership with Mitch today. We spoke about wanting to bat together until 35 overs at least then at the back end, we could score heavily. There is a bit of tinkering that we need to work on after losing wickets at the end."

Pakistan said the sloppy fielding let the Aussies off the hook but also credited his team for trying to make a match of it, just as they had done when they pulled off a Cricket World Cup-record run chase of 345 to beat Sri Lanka in Hyderabad earlier in the tournament.

"We dropped David Warner and batters such as him ensure they cash in,” he said. “We have to give credit to the quicks and spinners for coming back in the last 15 overs. They hit their lengths and the stumps.

"We started well with the bat and we had small partnerships but needed big ones in the middle. We have to get up to the mark in the first 10 overs with the ball and then partnerships in the middle overs with the bat,” he added.

Pakistan won the toss and put Australia in to bat but skipper Babar Azam's hopes of taking early wickets quickly evaporated when Warner (163) and Marsh (121) went all guns blazing to put on a 259-run stand.

But the rest of Australia's batting order collapsed.

ALSO READ

• Watch: Australia's David Warner celebrates World Cup century in 'Pushpa' style

• Australia's Warner says wife is 'my rock' after World Cup hundred

• Warner credits Root dust-up for bringing balance in life

In response, Pakistan's Abdullah Shafique (64) and Imam-ul-Haq (70) laid the platform for the chase with a 134-run opening partnership but the rest of the top order failed to build on promising starts as they were bundled out for 305.

Australia are level with fifth-placed Pakistan on four points but with a better net run rate.

Brief scores

ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, Bengaluru

Australia 367-9 (50 overs): Warner 163 (124), Marsh 121 (108); Afridi 5-54

Note: The top four teams qualify for the semi-finals