David Warner and Mitchell Marsh added 259 for the opening wicket as Pakistan faced crushing defeat at the hands of Australia in their World Cup encounter. Both Warner and Marsh scored brilliant centuries while Adam Zampa dismissed four Pakistani batters to secure an important victory for Australia.
Batting first, Australia piled up a total 367-9 in 50 overs. Warner made 163 while Marsh was out for 121. Warner made the most of tives that he received due to sloppy fielding efforts by Pakistani players. He was dropped first when he was batting at 10 and then at 105.
Shaheen Shah Afridi picked up five wickets while Haris Rauf dismissed three batters.
Pakistan began their run chase at a promising note as Imam ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique added 134 runs in 21 overs for the first wicket. Shafique was out for 64 while Imam made 70. Muhammad Rizwan too contributed with 40 but no other Pakistani batter was able to rise to the occasion. They were eventually bowled out for 305 in 45.3 overs.
With today’s victory, Australia have climbed to the fourth position in the points table, while Pakistan have been pushed down to the fifth. Top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals stage.