It was reminiscent of the Australian swagger of yore as Aaron Finch’s pacers bossed arch-rivals England on their way to the World Cup semifinals with a 64-run victory at Lord’s on Tuesday.
While Australia became the first team to reach the semifinals of the showpiece, England’s defeat—their second straight following the stunning reverse to Sri Lanka—made their path to the last four way tougher than it was a week ago.
Captain Finch rose to the occasion with his second century of the tournament before England rallied to stop Australia at 285 for seven in their blockbuster showdown.
In reply, England found the left-arm pace duo of Jason Behrendorff (5/43) and Mitchell Starc (4/44) too hot to handle, capitulating to 221 all out in 44.4 overs. Ben Stokes waged a lonely battle for his 89 off 115 balls.England were off to the worst possible start, losing James Vince in only the second ball of the innings.
Bigger blows awaited the hosts as the Lord’s saw in disbelief the quick departure of the in-from Joe Root followed by skipper Eoin Morgan.
At 26 for three in the sixth over, England were staring down the barrel against a side that is historically known to raise its game on the biggest stage, more so when the stakes are high.
England were pushed further down the abyss when Jonny Bairstow was dismissed by Jason Behrendorff, making it 53 for four in the 14th over.
With a 71-run partnership for the fifth wicket, Stokes and Jos Buttler somewhat rescued the innings, but the wicketkeeper-batsman got out after making 25 off 27 balls.
The match was as good as over when Starc bowled Stokes with one of the tournament’s finest yorkers to leave the home team reeling at 177 for six.
Earlier, comfortably placed at 185 for three in the 36th over, Australia were headed for a 300-plus total, but lost the plot due to England’s fine comeback and lack of discretion on part of most of the batsmen who followed Finch and David Warner (53).
