Australia win by 33 runs; England crash out
Spinner Adam Zampa starred with bat and ball as Australia
knocked England out of the World Cup semi-finals race with a convincing 33-run
win on Saturday.
Chasing 287 for victory in Ahmedabad, England
folded for 253 in 48.1 overs despite a valiant 64 from Ben Stokes to slump to
their sixth defeat in seven matches and stay bottom of the 10-team table.
Five-time champions Australia edged closer to
securing a semi-final berth alongside India and South Africa -- both already
qualified for the last four -- with their fifth straight win.
Zampa returned figures of 3-21 with his leg-spin to puncture England's hopes
that were raised by a couple of partnerships including a 63-run fifth-wicket
stand between Stokes and Moeen Ali, who hit 42.
Zampa, who had earlier hit 29 with the bat, broke
the stand when Stokes mistimed a paddle to be caught at short fine-leg and
departed with a shake of his head.
Wickets kept tumbling with Liam Livingstone and
Moeen falling in quick succession for a familiar England tale in this
tournament where they have also lost to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
Zampa, who leads the World Cup bowling chart with
19 wickets, also took a superb outfield catch to help dismiss David Willey.
Left-arm Mitchell Starc struck with two early
wickets including Jonny Bairstow on the first ball of the chase and then Joe
Root for 13.
Dawid Malan made 50 before skipper Pat Cummins took him out.
England, in their remaining two matches, are left
to fight for a place in the 2025 Champions Trophy with the top seven teams from
this World Cup gaining entry into the tournament where hosts Pakistan will have
automatic qualification.
Batsmen set up victory for Australia with Marnus
Labuschagne top-scoring with 71 and useful contributions from Steve Smith (44),
Cameron Green (47), Marcus Stoinis (35) and Zampa (29 off 19 balls).
Chris Woakes returned figures of 4-54 and was
supported by fellow quick Mark Wood and leg-spinner Adil Rashid, with two each,
to help bowl out Australia for 286.
Woakes struck early to remove the openers
including previous-match centurion Travis Head, for 11, and David Warner, for
15.
Steve Smith and
Labuschagne put on 75 runs to steady the innings but Rashid broke through.
Rashid dismissed Smith and then had Josh Inglis (three) caught at backward
point after the batsman attempted a reverse sweep.
Labuschagne reached his 50 and put on a partnership of 61 with Green before falling
to Wood. He made 71.
Green and Stoinis, the two players coming into the team in place of Glenn
Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh, put on 45 for the sixth wicket.
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It's been great, the
boys played brilliantly, we're getting better with each match. We've improved
with each game, still not playing the perfect game. It's something we pride
ourselves on, we didn't start well, but the boys have put their hands up, ever since
the first 2 games. He has been bowling beautifully in the last 3 games (on
Zampa), made 29 and took a banger (of a catch). We thought it was a good wicket
and would probably break up to his strength. Maxi and Mitchy will be back, they
have had a great tournament and for the others to come in and put in a
performance was nice. It wasn't too bad tonight (on the dew), sometimes we do
see players getting wet as they slide on, but it wasn't that bad today.
Pat Cummins, Australia captain
Disappointment, we were
having the same chat after the match. Improvements today, more with the bat,
but we were still well short, no complaints if you lose by 30 points. A low
point as a captain, you stand In this position, you came to India with high hopes
and expectations, We haven't done ourselves any justice, everyone knows how
much hard work we've put, these losses weigh high on our shoulders. We did well
(with the ball), but we could have done better with the ball, we let them put
up frustrating little partnerships. With the dew around, we backed ourselves
and we fell 30 ryan short. It was the right shot to play (on his dismissals),
the execution wasn't great, I was trying to take it back to them. I haven't
played as well as I can, in such a pivotal position, I think I let myself and
my team down. Only way to come back is to put in the hard yards at the nets and
come back better in the next game
Jos Buttler, England captain
Keeps
the momentum going. Not the best start but we have progressed nicely. We are
going along nicely. They would probably claim a moral victory (smiles). They
are the defending champions, we thought they will come aggressively at us. Was
generally slow to start with. We didn’t really mention a par score. Zampa took
the momentum away. A couple of wickets in the powerplay helped. Zampa has had a
helluva a day. Probably didn’t get it right the other night against NZ. Got a
proper training session. Sometimes my take-off into the delivery stride forced
me to jump into it. The one to Joe Root swung a little late. I certainly heard
it. Marnus heard it but he has a poor strike rate when it comes to reviews,
gets it right once in 50 (laughs). I don’t think you can take anyone lightly.
There is some nip in Wankhede. We saw India bowling superbly the other night.
Mitchell Starc
I
mean just summing up the conditions was important. We batted really well to get
to 286. The ground got really dewy. Attacking the stumps was important. It came
out as good as it ever has. Felt really good. Just tried to be really positive
and bat out the 50 overs. Was important to rotate the strike. One of those
days. Felt satisfying. Hopefully my best is yet to come.
Adam Zampa
Adam Zampa is the Man of
the Match
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