CWC 2019 Recap: England down Australia in semis to reach within striking distance of World Cup trophy
A Cricket World series, CWC 2019 Recap looks at all the high-octane encounters from the last year's ODI World Cup: from Jofra Archer's bouncers to Rohit Sharma's hundreds and from Mitchell Starc's yorkers to Virat Kohli's antics.
Match Summary
Australia 223(49 Overs) - Steven Smith85 (119), Alex Carey46 (70); Chris Woakes3/20(8), Adil Rashid3/54(10)
England 226/2(32.1 Overs) - Jason Roy85 (65), Joe Root*49 (46); Pat Cummins1/34(7), Mitchell Starc1/70(9)
Result - England won by 8 wickets
England were arguably the better team coming into the tournament but the way Australia had beaten England in the league stage, it would certainly have given them hope of repeating their feat.
However, the initial signs were not good for the Aussies. After David Warner struck the first ball of the match through extra cover for a scintillating boundary, he was dismissed for just 9. Warner was among the three batsmen to cross the 600-run landmark in the competition and ended as the second-highest scorer of the World Cup.
His partner Aaron Finch was also not far behind with more than 500 runs. But the opening partnership could not provide the platform to Australia in the big semifinal.
Steven Smith and Alex Carey, who had been the crisis men for Australia throughout the tournament, did the job yet again but it was only enough to drag Australia to 223.
With Mitchell Starc and Jason Behrendorff having troubled England in the league match, Australia were banking on another such fierce spell but that did not happen as Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow smashed the ball to all parts of the park. They were backed up well by Joe Root and Eoin Morgan as England romped home to a victory by 8 wickets, with almost 18 overs to spare and booked their ticket to the all-important final at Lord's.
There were still 107 deliveries left when England won the game. The win became the fourth best in terms of balls to spare in World Cup semi-finals. This was also the first time that England beat Australia in a World Cup since 1992.