Australian opening batters David Warner and Mitchell Marsh left spectators in awe, decimating the Pakistani bowling lineup with sheer batting blitz in their ODI World Cup clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on October 20, Friday. This fiery spectacle came to life after Pakistan's skipper, Babar Azam, opted to bowl first, setting the stage for the Australian openers in their team's fourth ODI World Cup encounter.
The batting wizardry of Warner and Marsh wasn't just confined to putting on a show as their robust partnership rewrote history by breaking the record for the highest-ever runs scored by an Australian opening duo in a World Cup match. Their scintillating performance surpassed the previous record of 183 runs, a feat achieved by Shane Watson and Brad Haddin against Canada during the 2011 ODI World Cup, co-hosted by India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
Both Warner and Marsh scored scintillating century to launch a run fest in Bengaluru on Friday and stitched together a partnership of 259 runs. While Warner cracked a blistering 163 off 124, birthday boy Marsh whacked 121 off 108. Marsh's breathtaking innings came to an end when Shaheen Shah Afridi clinched his wicket, with Australia's scoreboard flashing an imposing 259 in the 34th over. While Haris Rauf took the prized wicket of Warner in the 43rd over.
Notably, Australia's record-breaking spree, the all-time highest ODI partnership by an Australian team for any wicket was etched in 2015. David Warner, in collaboration with Steve Smith, crafted an astounding 260 runs against Afghanistan. Marsh and Warner's recent 259-run partnership snugly positions itself as the second-highest, with Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn's 234* run-stand in 2003 slotting in third.
Talking about the match, riding on brilliant tons from Warner and Marsh Australia posted colossal total of 367/9. Shaheen Afridi remained the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan as he returned with a bowling figure of 5/54.
Both Australia and Pakistan are desperately looking to win this match, especially after facing defeats against mighty India.
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