After England snatching the final spot from Australia, ICC World Cup will have a new champion to be crowned. For 27 years, England was deprived of the Cup, despite reaching the finals 3 times. So making up for the years, England was not letting this chance slip so easily, as they crushed the defending champions Australia by 8 wickets to reach 4th Final against New Zealand.
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Australia faced their toughest competition so far, as the England bowlers crushed the destructive opening duo of David Warner(9 out; 11b; 2X) and captain Aaron Finch (0 out; 1b), with Finch getting out for a golden duck. However, Steve Smith(85 out; 119b; 6X4) with Alex Carry(46 out; 70b; 4X4) slowly took the situation under control when Australia was in tough spot with 14 runs with the loss of 3 wickets in 6 overs. Though Jofra Archer’s lethal bouncer injured Carry on the chin severely, but they managed to get a 103 runs partnership, helping Australia to get to a better total. The rest of Australian batting line-up collapsed under the English attacks, only Glenn Maxwell(22 out; 23b; 2X, 1X6) and Mitchell Starc(29 out; 36b; 1X4, 1X6) survived for a while, contributing little to settle for the final target of 223 losing all their wickets and 1 over still to be bowled. Chris Woakes brilliance throughout the innings was commendable with 3 wickets and a stellar economy rate of 2.50.
In the second half of the match, the bowling attacks provided by Australian bowlers were unable to baffle the England batsmen, as the lethal opening duo of Jason Roy(85 out; 65b; 9X4, 5X6) and Jonny Bairstow(34 out; 43b; 5X4) once again went on to chase down the total with a 124 runs partnership. However, Mitchell Starc makes a breakthrough to stop Bairstow, but the next2 batsmen, Joe Root(49 not out; 46b; 8X4) and captain Eoin Morgan(45 not out; 39b; 8X4) easily managed to get to the desired target. Jason Roy went on with a sensational 85 off 65 balls, drove England to chase down the target in 31 overs, with 8 wickets still at hand, fixing the final meet with New Zealand on 14th July at the ‘Mecca of Cricket’, Lord’s cricket ground.
