EDGBASTON, Birmingham: Australia captain Aaron Finch admitted his side were “outplayed” by England after the World Cup holders saw their reign ended in a semifinal thumping on Thursday.
Despite winning the toss and batting first, Finch’s team were humbled as they collapsed to 223 all out before allowing England to sweep to victory in just 32.1 overs.
Losing to their arch-rivals in front of a gleeful Edgbaston crowd was a painful way for Australia to surrender the trophy they had won four times in the past five tournaments.
But Finch, who was out for a duck, conceded England had been far superior.
“We were totally outplayed today. We expected the new ball to seam a little but they bowled a great length, hitting the stumps a lot,” Finch said.
“We had to have a lot things go right for us. We had to take our chances and bowl them out.
“We tried to take wickets but when you are aggressive with the ball and they are aggressive with the bat, things can happen very quickly.”
England openers Jason Roy, who hit 85 from 65 balls, and Jonny Bairstow, who made 34, took the game away from Australia with a superb 124-run partnership for the first wicket.
“They played exceptionally well. We know how dominant they are when they get on top. You’ve got a very good cricket team in England,” Finch said.
Although Australia had beaten England easily in the group stage at Lord’s, they were a shadow of the team that eased into the semifinals with seven wins from nine matches.
For just the second time in the past seven World Cups, Australia have failed to make the final, but Finch said he was proud of his team’s efforts 12 months after they were crushed 5-0 by England in a one-day international series.
“We have a lot of positives from the campaign. We’ve come a long way from when we were in England a year ago,” he said.
“We came here thinking we could win the tournament. We’ve had backs to the wall and character shown and I’m proud of how the group have progressed but it still hurts.”
Australia ‘outplayed’ by England in World Cup semifinal says Finch, as hosts cruise to Lord’s NZ showdown
Australia ‘outplayed’ by England in World Cup semifinal says Finch, as hosts cruise to Lord’s NZ showdown
- Losing to their arch-rivals in front of a gleeful Edgbaston crowd was painful way for Australia to lose their crown
- Finch, who was out for a duck, conceded England had been far superior
Rajkovic excels as Al-Ittihad cruise to victory against Al-Shabab
- Al-Ittihad secure fifth Saudi Pro League win of the season with a 2-0 victory
JEDDAH: It has not been the start to the season that Al-Ittihad fans had anticipated. Nevertheless, on their return to Saudi Pro League action after a 36-day hiatus, the defending champions delivered a performance that offered renewed confidence ahead of a demanding run of seven matches in the space of 30 days.
The opening exchanges proved far from straightforward for The Tigers.
Attempting to play out from the back, they were punished within the first two minutes as Abdullah Matuq pounced on a mistake to find himself one-on-one with Predrag Rajkovic, only for the Serbian goalkeeper to produce the first of several crucial saves. Just 60 seconds later, Rajkovic was called into action again, this time denying a header from a corner.
Momentum soon shifted. Roger Fernandes began to cause problems down the left wing, his quick footwork getting the better of Al-Shabab’s defence before he delivered a low cross into the box. Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, aided by Karim Benzema’s intelligent screening of Saad Balobaid, met it to open the scoring in the 16th minute.
Al-Ittihad came close to doubling their advantage in the 28th minute. Mohannad Al-Shangeeti struck the far post with a powerful effort, before his follow-up attempt narrowly missed the target, drifting wide of Marcelo Grohe’s goal.
Grohe was later called upon to keep Al-Shabab in the contest, producing a fine save in the 58th minute to deny Benzema after the Frenchman was released by a perfectly weighted pass from Steven Bergwijn.
Al-Ittihad continued to dominate possession, though Imanol Alguacil’s side managed to limit Fernandes’ influence by committing extra defensive cover on the left flank.
That adjustment failed to account for Al-Shangeeti’s runs from deep, as he surged down the right to find Bergwijn, who finished first time to seal the contest for the hosts in the 85th minute.
Late substitute Abdulaziz Al-Bishi thought he had added a third in the closing stages, but his effort was ruled out for offside.
The win lifts Al-Ittihad into sixth place on 17 points, while Al-Shabab remain just two points above the relegation zone, extending their winless run to eight matches since their Matchday 2 victory over Al-Hazem.
