ICC World Cup 2019 | Win against Afghanistan has taken away nervousness, says Aaron Finch
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Aaron Finch has stated that Australia’s win over Afghanistan in their campaign opener on Saturday will take away the team’s nervousness. Afghanistan had posted 207 runs while batting first on a green wicket which was easily chased down by the Aussies despite losing wickets towards the end.
Australia had a rough time for the most part of the last 12 months but struck form in the final two series prior to their title defence at the World Cup. They have been bolstered by the return of David Warner and Steve Smith which also ensured that the side is back among the favourites. Skipper Aaron Finch did not shy away from the fact that the team was nervous before the win against Afghanistan.
“There's always a bit of nerves. Guys have been building up for this since a month now. Good to get a win and to get the on-field nerves away,” he said at the post-match presentation ceremony, reported Cricbuzz.
The Australian pacers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins dismissed both the Afghan openers Mohammad Shahzad and Hazratullah Zazai for a duck respectively. Adam Zampa picked three more wickets in the middle overs while Marcus Stoinis picked two. Mohammad Nabi got run-out by a throw from Steve Smith and Pat Cummins ended the opponent’s innings by picking the last two wickets as well. The skipper felt that powerplay wickets were the most crucial.
“Wickets in the Powerplay are key for any side. Got a couple early and then they played well actually. A run out and a couple of wickets helped,” the 32-year-old asserted.
The Australian openers Finch and David Warner added a 96-run stand, post which the side lost two more wickets of Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith. The Victoria batsman felt that the team did well overall.
“Did lose it a bit at the end but overall, we did well,” expressed the top order batsman.
Warner was awarded the Man of the Match as he hit 89 runs off 114 balls despite a sluggish start. The southpaw took 74 balls for his fifty but stayed till the end to take his team home, as pointed out by the skipper.
"Extremely important (innings by Warner). He was struggling initially but he hung on. It was always going to be difficult for the new batsman, so he got stuck in and then got rewarded,” explained Finch.
Australia took 34.5 overs to chase down the target. The skipper remarked that they were not thinking about the net run rate as the Afghan spinners Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi are too good to be taken for granted.
“In such situations, it's important not to get too far ahead. They have some world class spinners, so if you take things for granted, you're playing with fire,” Finch signed off.
