David Warner was adjudged the Player of the Match for his exceptional 163-run knock which helped Australia flatten Pakistan by 62 runs at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru on October 20, Friday.
The run fest saw David Warner and Mitchell Marsh notching towering centuries which steered Australia to a big total of 367/9 despite Shaheen Afridi's five-wicket haul. In reply, despite a promising start in their chase, Pakistan was restricted to 305, being all out in 45.3 overs, thanks to Adam Zampa's brilliant four-fer.
Warner, facing off against the Men In Green, displayed exceptional skill and an aggressive approach, exploiting a pitch that seemed to favor the batsmen. His innings could have been curtailed early on, had Usama Mir not missed a catch in the fifth over when he was batting at a score of mere 10.
Seizing this opportunity, Warner's presence at the crease became an ordeal for the Pakistani bowlers. He shifted gears and started taking Pakistani bowlers to clearner and reached his century in just 85 balls. Regrettably, the fielding errors didn't end there. Usama Mir, in a deja vu moment, dropped Warner yet again in the 33rd over, when he was well-settled at 101 runs.
By the time his innings concluded, Warner had accumulated an impressive 163 runs off 124 deliveries, peppered with 14 boundaries and 9 towering sixes.
Adding to Pakistan's woes was Warner's partnership with Mitchell Marsh, who also ended up scoring a brilliant 121 that too on his birthday. Together, the duo wreaked havoc, stitching together a formidable 259-run stand in merely 203 deliveries. This partnership laid the foundation for Australia's robust total.
In the post match presentation, Warner underlined Pakistan's lacklustre bowling which is hurting Babar Azam's team more.
“Pakistan have lost their last five wickets for 36 runs, which is a worrying pattern in a tournament where NRR can play a key role. But it's their bowling that'd probably hurt more,” Warner said after Australia's convincing win over Pakistan.
Warner also talked about his groin injury. “The groin is okay. Just a bit sore, all cramps at the moment,” he said.
On his scintillating partnership with birthday boy Mitchell Marsh, Warner said," Stand with Marsh with awesome. Once we got the pace of the wicket, we tried to set it up for the incoming batters. Committing and batting my skills was pleasing. Had a good hit yesterday. It helps when you hit it off the middle, and playing on this ground as well. Marsh and I tried to bat till 35 and we thought we could go big in the back half. We need to work on going big at the end though. It's what you do as a team. Every run's valuable. Part of my DNA is running fast between the wickets. Stoinis struck with his bumpers and Cummins also went into the pitch to get the well-set Shakeel and the burgeoning 57-run stand".
Australia made a resounding comeback after losing their first two matches against India and South Africa. Australia, who were at one stage sitting bottom of the points table, then notched up victories against Sri Lanka and Pakistan to change their fortunes in the ongoing ODI World Cup. Meanwhile Pakistan after notching back-to-back victories against Netherlands and Sri Lanka.
With this win Australia surged to no.4 in the points table with four points in four matches and NRR of -0.195. Notable Pakistan, who were flattened by India in their previous match, too have four points in as many matches but are placed at fifth spot due to inferior net run rate of -0.456.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
PAK vs AUS: Babar Azam indirectly blames Usama Mir for Pakistan's loss, says '...Warner won't spare you'
PAK vs AUS: Pakistan fail to recover from India's hammering, surrender to Australia in mammoth runs chase as Warner, Marsh, Zampa dazzle
