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Rampant Roy leads England to storming victory over Australia

cricket11 July 2019 16:35| © MWP
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A storming 85 in just 65 balls from Durban-born Jason Roy helped a dominant England to a crushing eight-wicket victory over World Cup-holders Australia in the second semifinal at Edgbaston on Thursday.

 

The win means that England will now face Kane Williamson's New Zealand in the final at Lord's on Sunday.

Whichever team triumphs on that day (in front of a packed house as well as a free-to-air TV audience in the UK) will be a first-time World Cup winner.

Chasing what might, in other circumstances, have been construed as a not-unchallenging 224 for victory on a pitch that appeared to favour pace bowling, Roy and his partner Jonny Bairstow pounded the Australian bowlers for their third consecutive hundred partnership with Roy scoring at twice his partner's rate, playing the kind of brave cricket that skipper Eoin Morgan and the England coaching team have earmarked over the last two years.

"If you told me after the last World Cup that we'd reach the final I wouldn't have believed you. It sums up how far we have come in the last four years. Everyone should take a huge amount of credit," Morgan said.

"Today was close to a perfect performance. Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer bowled a hell of a spell."

"This final is a huge opportunity for us," he added. "Making the most of it would be brilliant but getting to the final alone is awesome."

England still needed 77 for victory when Roy was out but there was to be no reprieve for the Aussies.

Silent assassin Joe Root (49 not out in 46 balls) and Morgan (45 not out in 39 balls) each struck eight fours as England sped to a lopsided win in 32.1 overs, giving them victory with 107 balls to spare in front of a raucous and adoring home crowd.

England seemed determined to play the game in the way that bears their recent trademark when they began their chase for victory, with nerves barely apparent.

It was Roy who led the way, driving Mitchell Starc for glorious fours and then flicking him for six over long-leg in the sixth over. His attacking game climaxed in Steve Smith's only over when he struck the legspinner for three consecutive sixes.

When the total had reached a breathless 124 in the 18th over, Starc temporarily stopped the fun when he trapped Bairstow plumb leg before – a decision he strangely reviewed.

That rebounded against Roy shortly afterwards when he was wrongly given out caught behind by wicketkeeper Alex Carey off Pat Cummins.

A seething Roy, who struck nine fours and five sixes in his remarkable innings, had no recourse to a review and it required umpire Marais Erasmus to gently persuade him to leave the crease.

Defeat meant Australia suffered their first loss in eight World Cup semifinals and skipper Aaron Finch conceded they had been dominated from start to finish.

"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," he said.

"We came here thinking we could win the tournament. We've had backs to the wall. I'm proud of how the group have progressed but it still hurts."

WOAKES, ARCHER SHRED AUSSIES

Earlier, England’s skilled pacemen, Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer, shredded Australia’s batsmen, but a superb 85 under intense pressure from Smith enabled the Aussies to reach 223 all out in 49 overs.

Smith's knock, assisted by valuable contributions from the impressive Carey (46) in a century stand for the fourth wicket and from Mitchell Starc (29) in a 50 partnership for the eighth wicket, gave Australia some slender hope of victory in humid, pace-friendly conditions after skipper Finch had won the toss and – following the trend of the tournament – opted to bat first.

Archer and Woakes gave their team a sensational start by getting rid of the formidable Aussie openers, David Warner and Finch, in the first three overs.

And when Peter Handscomb was bowled by Woakes with the first ball of the sixth over, the Australians faced disaster as they slumped to 14 for three.

Archer struck the first blow, trapping Finch leg before with his first ball with a delivery that seamed in to the Aussie captain; then Woakes grabbed the key wicket of the prolific Warner with a delivery that rose sharply, forcing the lefthander to edge to Jonny Bairstow at first slip.

Finally, Woakes saw off Peter Handscomb – playing his first match of the tournament in place of the injured Usman Khawaja – who was caught on the crease and beaten through the gate, inside-edging onto his middle stump.

CAREY STRUCK

The momentum continued with England in the first power play in which Australia stumbled to 27 for three, their lowest outlay of the tournament.

To make matters worse, Archer struck Carey on the jaw with a high-speed short delivery that required extensive repairs for the wicketkeeper.

But, as the third and fourth seamers came on and the ball lost some of its shine and hardness, Carey and Smith began an impressive recovery.

The two men reached their 100 partnership in 126 balls and were looking comfortable when the left-handed Carey fell to a soft dismissal, clipping wrist-spinner Adil Rashid tamely to substitute fielder James Vince on the midwicket boundary.

As so often happens, one wicket quickly brought another as Rashid had Marcus Stoinis leg before four balls later as the allrounder didn’t pick his googly.

Glenn Maxwell briefly sparkled, slamming a six and two fours before he fell to detect Archer’s slower "knuckle ball", chipping an easy catch to England captain Eoin Morgan at cover.

Smith desperately needed help and he received it from Starc as the Aussie tail wagged.

But brilliant work by England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler ran out Smith and Starc went soon after, giving Woakes his third wicket as England wrapped up the Australian innings.

The hugely impressive Woakes had the best figures with 3-20 off eight overs, while Archer was not far behind with 2-32 in his full quota of overs.

Rashid also had his best match of the tournament with 3-54 in the middle overs.


ENGLAND: Eoin Morgan (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Liam Plunkett, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood

AUSTRALIA: Aaron Finch (capt), David Warner, Steve Smith, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon

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