New Delhi:
Cricket is a game of uncertainty and Australia not making it to the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy is the perfect example of this. England on Saturday knocked out the rival by 40 runs via Duckworth-Lewis method.
Batting first, Australia set a target of 278 runs for the host. Struggling a bit after losing three early wickets, Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes helped England to chase the target with ease.
However, rain stopped the match when England were 240-4 in 40.2 overs. They needed 38 more runs to win in 58 balls. England rode on Ben Stokes’s brilliant hundred and some incisive bowling by Mark Wood and Adil Rashid, who returned with four-wicket hauls each at Edgbaston here.
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Australia’s loss paved the way for Bangladesh to clinch a maiden berth at the semifinals of the Champions Trophy. The Tigers had stunned New Zealand by five wickets in Cardiff on Friday.
Aaron Finch (68) and Steve Smith (56) scored twin half centuries at the top to lay the foundation but Australia lost five wickets within 15 runs to lose the momentum. It was Travis Head’s unbeaten 71-run innings which helped them manage a respectable score.
Chasing 278 to win, England were reduced to 35-3 in the 6th over but Eoin Morgan (87) and Ben Stokes (102) resurrected England’s runchase with a strokeful 159-run partnership in 26.1 overs for the fourth wicket.
With inputs from PTI.
