World Cup 2023: Pakistan suffer back-to-back defeats, lose to Australia by 62 runs after India thumping

David Warner and Mitchell Marsh smashed centuries for Australia to guide them to a crucial 62-run win over Pakistan at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Pakistan succumbed to back-to-back losses in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 after being thumped by India in Ahmedabad last week.

As for Australia, they bounced back in form after losing their opening two matches against hosts India and South Africa. Following their win against Sri Lanka, the five-time world champions saw off Pakistan in Bengaluru.

With this win, Australia climbed to fourth place in the World Cup 2023 points table, with Pakistan dropping out of the knockout spots and into fifth place.

WARNER, MARSH BLOW PAKISTAN AWAY

Australia got off to a dream start with openers David Warner and Mitchell Marsh going hell for leather from the get go. The two batters did not let the Pakistani pacers settle in the powerplay, scoring 82 runs.

The two batters stitched Australia’s highest opening wicket partnership in ODI World Cup history, putting up 259 runs for the first wicket. The partnership saw both batters score centuries with Marsh getting to his maiden ODI World Cup century on his 32nd birthday.

Marsh became the first wicket to fall as Shaheen Shah Afridi claimed his first wicket of the day in the 34th over. He departed after scoring 121 runs off 108 deliveries, smashing 10 boundaries and nine maximums.

Glenn Maxwell fell for a golden duck, while Steve Smith failed to move the scoreboard much. Warner registered Australia’s third-highest individual score in ODI World Cups, before being dismissed by Haris Rauf after scoring 163 runs off 124 balls, smashing 14 boundaries and nine sixes.

None of the other Australian batters really stamped their authority on the game as Afridi and Rauf pulled the run-rate back in the death overs. With 325 for 3 on the board in the 43rd over, Australia managed to add just 42 runs while losing six wickets, ending the innings with 367 for 9 on the board.

Afridi was the pick of the Pakistani bowlers, claiming his second five-wicket haul in ODI World Cups. He ended up with five wickets while giving away 54 runs in 10 overs.

PAKISTAN GET OFF TO A STRONG START

Pakistan openers Abdullah Shafique and Imam ul-Haq got them off to a strong start in the second innings. The two openers struck a 134-run stand and scored at a positive rate to keep Pakistan in the game.

The Decision Review System (DRS) went down after the 16th over due to a power outage, which is why the officials had to reboot the system. Following the incident, the on-field umpires Chris Brown and Richard Illingworth spoke to both the captains explaining them the situation, while informing them that they would now switch to ‘old school’ reviews.

Following the restart, both batters went on to score half-centuries before Marcus Stoinis struck twice to remove both Shafique and Imam in quick succession. Shafique departed after scoring 64 runs off 61 balls, hitting seven boundaries and two sixes. Meanwhile, Imam scored 71 runs off 70 deliveries, before falling in the 24th over.

Interestingly, this was the first time that both openers from both sides scored fifty or more in a World Cup match.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam couldn’t stamp his authority on the match, being dismissed by Adam Zampa after scoring 18 runs off 14 deliveries. Following Babar’s dismissal, Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan settled Pakistan’s innings with a 57-run stand. However, Shakeel couldn’t convert his start to a big score, falling at the hands of Stoinis after scoring 30 runs off 31 balls.

Iftikhar Ahmed looked dangerous and smashed three big sixes before being dismissed by Zampa at a crucial stage of the match. Zampa then produced the most important wicket of innings, catching Rizwan LBW in the 41st over.

Then, the Aussies ran through Pakistan’s tail, bowling them out for 305 runs in 45.3 overs, winning the match by 62 runs.

Following their win over Pakistan, Australia will turn their focus towards the Netherlands, with the two sides set to clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. Meanwhile, Pakistan will look to bounce back when they take on Afghanistan in Chennai on October 23.