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Australia has bought their World Cup defence at least another day.
Filling in for the injured Aaron Finch, Matthew Wade’s side achieved their first goal of beating Afghanistan at Adelaide Oval on Friday night by claiming a narrow four run win.
Whether it is enough will be determined in 24 hours.
Australia’s 89-run defeat in their World Cup opener against New Zealand immediately put them on the backfoot regarding their Net Run-Rate.
It means that should England defeat Sri Lanka on Saturday night in Sydney, Australia will be sent packing because of their horrendous NRR.
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The need to try and improve that NRR meant Australia’s batters played some unique shots in an effort to be creative and put the pressure on their opponents. Did it come back to bite them? In many cases, yes.
Nor did Australia’s decision to controversially drop Mitchell Starc pay off either, with Kane Richardson going for 12 runs an over while the home side did not get the wickets they craved early.
Here are our player ratings from Australia’s win.
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David Warner — 3.5
25 off 18
Looked in supreme touch as Warner timed the ball early and had that glint in his eye that usually means business.
But Warner’s decision to switch to bat like a right-hander to quick Naveen-ul-Haq blew up in his face, as he was bowled from a nice piece of bowling.
With Warner flying, should he have just batted normally? Hindsight is a beautiful thing but there was no need to switch.
Cameron Green — 3.5
3 off 2; 0-13 off 2
Attempted to cut a ball too close to his body and ended up edging behind where Gulbadin Naib took a fantastic catch off Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Two tight overs.
Mitchell Marsh — 6.5
45 off 30
Timed the ball from the outset before skying a ball off spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Steve Smith — 3
4 off 4
Trapped in front fourth ball off Naveen-ul-Haq, who came in wide on the crease and got the ball to jag back slightly.
Marcus Stoinis — 5
25 off 21; 0-26 off 2
A couple of big blows but Australia’s hard-hitting batting all-rounder eventually got a thick outside edge to backward point and fell to Rashid Khan.
Went for 17 off the final over as Stoinis missed his line and length and was smashed by Khan.
Glenn Maxwell — 8.5
54 not out off 32
Australia’s best and Maxwell’s finest innings of the tournament.
Maxwell came to the crease at 4-86 and hit a boundary off the final ball to see Australia post a par score.
Maxwell timed the ball well from the outset and for the most part played traditional shots.
He also ran Gulbadin Naib out with a sensational piece of fielding in the deep.
Matthew Wade — 3
6 off 8
Bowled by a beauty from Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Wade took over the captaincy in the absence of Aaron Finch and was a relieved man at the end as Australia scraped home.
Pat Cummins — 4
0-22 off 4; 0 off 2
A second ball duck with the bat, but Cummins bowled well enough.
He troubled Afghanistan with his pace, but the right-armer didn’t swing the ball.
Economical but not the wickets that were craved.
Kane Richardson — 2
1-48 off 4; 1 off 1
A controversial selection, Richardson ran himself out.
But it was with the ball that Richardson was picked and early on he started well, taking a wicket third ball. Two balls earlier Cameron Green dropped a tough catch.
However, from that point on Richardson went the journey as he missed his length and was smashed for 48 from his four overs.
Adam Zampa — 7
2-22 off 4; 1 not out off 1
Australia’s best bowler.
Zampa pitched the ball up, got some drift and attacked the stumps. It was first-class bowling.
Josh Hazlewood — 5.5
2-33 off 4
Took the new ball but went for 10 off the opening over. It was hardly what Australia wanted after leaving out Starc.
When he dropped short Hazlewood was hit for runs but the big quick took two wickets.
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