AUS vs AFG | Takeaways – David Warner’s emphatic ODI return and Afghanistan’s lower-order fightback

06/01/2019

Australia romped home to a scintillating victory in their opening game of the World Cup against Afghanistan at Bristol. Their bowlers did well to restrict Afghanistan to a modest total of 207 after which, David Warner and Aaron Finch put up a show to gun down the target with ease.

Australian bowling – the one to watch for

In the last 12 months or so, Australia have quite effectively managed to pull their weight together and peak at the very right time, which also coincided with the return of David Warner and Steve Smith. More than a year ago, not many gave Australia a chance in this World Cup and here we are, the defending champions are now one of the contenders. One of the main reasons behind their resurgence has been their effective bowling and will bank heavily on this front in the remainder of the tournament as well.

Despite missing out on an impressive Jhye Richardson, Australia does have one of the best bowling attacks in this edition. And they proved their worth by folding up Afghanistan for a mere total of 207 inside 39 overs. Their bowling clicked collectively and put up an emphatic all-round show to kick start their campaign with a bang.

Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins made good use of the new ball after which, Adam Zampa took control of things in the middle. When things were running out of control, Marcus Stoinis chipped in with two crucial wickets followed by Cummins getting rid of the tail. Though Nathan Coulter-Nile remained wicketless, he was economical and kept things tight at his end.

There was no major weak-link in this attack and one shouldn’t forget that Afghanistan got the better of Pakistan in the warm-up game and couldn’t have written off. With Australia’s bowling firing from all barrels, they will pose challenges of a different kind in the matches to come.

Afghanistan’s top-order need to complement lower-order

Afghanistan’s 6, 7, 8 contributed for a total of 119 runs out f the total of 207 scored by them, which is just over 57 per cent. They would have certainly got a better score had their top and middle-order clicked, which was pivotal against a competitive team like Australia. Barring Rahmat Shah, none of the top five managed to have an impact, which hurt Afghanistan massively. They needed to bid their time out in the middle instead of playing too many strokes (Nabi was run out). At 77 for 5, Afghanistan were all set to bundle out inside 120-run mark but some counter-attacking by Najibullah Zadran, Gulbaden Naib and Rashid Khan helped them post a total of 207.

Zadran led the fightback and was well supported by Naib, they stitched a much-needed 83-run stand between them after which, Rashid produced some firework. It is always a good sign for a team’s lower middle-order to churn out runs, but Afghanistan’s top-order will have to step and deliver if they are eyeing to go a long way into the tournament.

Most of their top-order batsmen played the intimidating pace attack on the back foot and lacked intent. A rather astute approach will do the trick for them. They have a solid bowling attack but were the runs on the board sufficient in order to defend it. Not many gave them a chance to win this game, but at least expected to put up a fight, which only a handful of them did.

Australian openers flourish

Aaron Finch and David Warner put to rest every thought to bed regarding the opening slots with an in-form Usman Khawaja in the line. In Warner’s absence, Khawaja did well to score big runs at the top and get consistent starts, but the former’s return meant his demotion to number three became a general order. One cannot argue over Warner’s spot in the line-up - he has done enough to get a go and his IPL form only strengthened his case.

However, the World Cup was a different ball game together and the pressure was on the southpaw to deliver and silent his harshest critics. He was mocked and booed the moment he walked out to bat but that didn’t affect his determination and he remained unfazed. Chasing such a modest target should never have been a threat to the star-studded Australian line-up but Afghanistan did have the bowling to create an upset and ruin their counter-part’s party. Aaron Finch, on the other hand, has looked in a different zone in recent times and it was important to get some momentum going from the outset.

Finch fired with all cylinders, which provided a window for Warner to settle down. They stitched 96-runs at the top after which, Warner anchored the run-chase with an unbeaten 89. With the Australian openers finding their groove, it will only ease off the pressure from the middle-order and infuse fear in the mind of opponents. Warner can take the game away with his explosive batting while Finch can inflict damage silently.