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Pakistan on Friday stumbled to yet another defeat in the 2023 Cricket World Cup, as Australia were too strong for them in Bengaluru.

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Centuries from David Warner and Mitchell Marsh, and a four-fer from Adam Zampa scripted the Aussies’ 62-run win, and what was just their second victory in four games.

Earlier, after being put into bat, the tons from the Aussie opening duo had led Pat Cummins’ side to 367/9.

In reply, the Men in Green got off to a confident note, with Abdullah Shafique (64) and Imam-ul-Haq (70) forging a 134-run stand for the opening wicket, but Pakistan soon lost the plot after the duo’s dismissals.

This win would give Australia a morale booster as they jumped to fourth place in the points table, despite still having a negative NRR (-0.193).

There were a lot of moments that defined the contest, and it could have gone either way at one stage. Let’s look at some few top moments from the game here:

Usama Mir’s costly drop

While both Warner and Marsh went onto score memorable tons, things could have been a lot different early on in the contest.

Warner could have been dismissed for a score as low as 10, had Usama Mir completed a catch. In the third ball of the fifth over, Shaheen unleashed a short of a length ball that went wide outside off. Warner went for an uncontrolled pull shot, and almost gifted this opportunity to Usama Mir at mid-on, but the latter eventually dropped it.

Usama Mir Drop the Catch of David Warner,
hard luck @iShaheenAfridi @babarazam258 #PakvsAusLIVE #wcc2023 #fypシ゚viralシ pic.twitter.com/vVtPgJeok4

— shahzeb (@ShahzebChanna5) October 20, 2023

Usama had time to settle down and comfortably catch it, but he put his hands on his chest and eventually ended up dropping it.

Usama eventually paid for the drop catch, as Warner went onto amass 163 off 124 balls, getting to his 21^st ODI century.

Shaheen Afridi makes it count

At one stage, Australia were cruising so much so that a total of 400 or more looked very realistic. However, Australia started losing wickets at regular intervals following the dismissal of Marsh and Glenn Maxwell, who were dismissed in the 34^th over.

Shaheen Afridi closes out the Australian innings in style, picking up the 2nd five wicket haul of #CWC23 🖐️ @mastercardindia Milestones 🏏 #CWC23 | #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/Wv2iueOXrM

— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) October 20, 2023

Warner and Marsh had forged a 259-run stand for the opening wicket, but from there, Australia were “restricted” to 367/9.

Part of that reason is Shaheen Afridi, who finished with a five-wicket haul. He would go onto finish with figures of 5/54, inflicting a mini Aussie collapse at the backend of the innings.

His first couple of strikes came in the 34^th when he saw off Marsh and Maxwell. Just 14 overs later, in the 48^th, Shaheen would then trap Marcus Stoinis LBW, and despite the Aussie going for a review, Hawkeye showed that the ball was hitting top of off stump.

Shaheen once again struck twice, in the 50^th over, to remove Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood off the first two balls.

Shaheen had an opportunity for a hat-trick, but on this occasion, he went wide down the leg side and missed it.

Strong start from Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq

Having been set a target of 368, Pakistan started the chase in such a way that it seemed they would give a tough time to the Aussie bowlers.

The opening duo of Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq forged 134 runs for the first wicket, but an unstable middle and lower order batting lineup meant that it was too much to ask for.

Both Shafique and Imam went all aggressive right from the start, with the duo taking on the famed Aussie pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

Regular boundaries kept coming in, with Pakistan making the most use of the first powerplay to post 59/0 at the end of 10 overs.

The duo would bring up Pakistan’s 100 in 16.4 overs, and with both the batters scoring at a pretty decent strike-rate, Pakistan seemed to remain in the chase.

However, the two were dismissed in a gap of three overs by Marcus Stoinis. While Stoinis saw off Shafique in the 22^nd over after the latter was caught by Maxwell at midwicket, Imam followed suit after Stoinis struck again in the 24^th, being caught by Starc at third man.

Not all good for Australia

Australia may have won their last two matches at the World Cup, but it’s not all been good for the five-time champions off late.

The Aussies’ lacklustre fielding has been a cause of concern. In the 12^th over of Pakistan’s chase, Shafique pulled a back of a length delivery from Cummins in front of square, and Sean Abbott at midwicket hung on for the catch, only for him to lose his balance and go over the ropes. It was a six instead.

In the 18^th over, Imam was on strike when he was dropped by Cummins. It was a short ball from Maxwell and Imam pulled it towards midwicket, where Cummins was waiting, only for him to drop the catch.

Adam Zampa has his day out

Adam Zampa has had a mixed run of fortunes this World Cup. Against India and South Africa, he leaked a lot of runs which eventually cost Australia both the games.

However, a fantastic outing against Sri Lanka in Lucknow, where he registered figures of 4/47, meant Zampa had rediscovered his form.

Triggering the collapse!

Back-to-back four-wicket hauls for Adam Zampa #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/RWJVQWEdHd

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) October 20, 2023

And he backed it up with another four-fer, against Pakistan on Friday. Zampa was majorly responsible for Pakistan’s collapse in the middle overs.

First up, in the 27^th over, Zampa saw off Babar Azam after the latter looked to pull. It was a decent effort but Cummins at midwicket made amends for his missed opportunity earlier with a fine catch.

Zampa then struck Mohammad Rizwan LBW in the 39^th over, before seeing off Iftikhar Ahmed in similar fashion in the 41^st.

In the 43^rd over, Zampa struck again with a back of a length ball to Nawaz, only for the batter to get beaten on the edge while looking to push towards cover. Nawaz eventually stepped outside the crease and Josh Inglis, the wicketkeeper, stumped Nawaz eventually.

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