- By Matthew Henry
- ` Sport in Ahmedabad
November 4, 2023, 16:51 GMT
Updated 1 hour ago
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Australia wins by 33 runs and knocks England out of the World Cup
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ICC Men’s World Cup, Ahmedabad: |
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Australia 286 (49.3 overs): Labuschagne 71 (83); Woakes 4-54, Rashid 2-38 |
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England 253 (48.1 overs): Stokes 64 (90), Zampa 3-21 |
England’s World Cup defense is over after old rivals Australia added the final nail with a 33-run win in Ahmedabad.
England were already all but eliminated, but their fifth miserable defeat in a row and sixth overall ended any hope of a surprise turnaround.
They did well, beating Australia for 286 and struggling with the bat, but were still dismissed for 253.
Jonny Bairstow was caught on the leg side on the first ball of the chase and Joe Root followed with 13, leaving Ben Stokes playing a lonely hand as he threatened another special blow.
But just as he was starting to go through the motions, Australia’s biggest tormentor of recent years was caught tame by leg-spinner Adam Zampa with 64 off 90 balls.
Chris Woakes threatened the unlikely late on but his 32 only delayed the inevitable as England were sent off in the penultimate game.
The defeat leaves England bottom of the table with two games left to play – first against the Netherlands on Wednesday before the tournament ends against Pakistan on Saturday.
Their attention now turns to trying to avoid the embarrassment of failing to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy by failing to finish in the top eight in India.
Meanwhile, Australia are on the verge of securing their place in the semi-finals and move on in comfort after ending the reign of their Ashes opponents.
Australia delivers the final blow
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‘Huge noise!’ – Labuschagne launches appeals for Root’s dismissal
The fact that England’s defense officially ends with defeat against Australia only makes what has been a torrid four weeks even worse.
It also ends where it began – in the world’s largest cricket stadium, where English optimism was dashed by a thrashing from New Zealand in the tournament opener.
The bowling performance gave them hope – Woakes impressed with 4-54 – but from the moment of Bairstow’s tame dismissal, Australia were favorites.
Root was dropped on seven and kicked past slip before the review showed a thin lead to the wicketkeeper, leaving Stokes to rebuild with Dawid Malan.
At 19-2, they put up a painstaking 84 from 108 balls until Malan took a catch to deep square leg at 50. Captain Jos Buttler’s miserable run continued as he dismissed Zampa after struggling in one run for seven balls.
While Stokes was there, memories of his Headingley Ashes epic were not far away and the pace required was never too challenging.
He hit two sixes to reach his half-century, only to slam a Zampa long-hop straight into the hands of short fine leg.
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Stokes is dismissed for 64 by Zampa
Zampa finished the game with excellent figures of 3-21, grabbed a nice sweeping catch deep to send off David Willey, and added an important 29er with the bat at No. 10.
England may have fought back to win the Ashes this summer, but it is Australia that delivers the final blow of 2023.
Zampa boosts Australia’s total
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England’s timely wickets slowed Australia down
England’s bowlers could hardly begrudge the loss to India last week and once again did a fine job restricting and ultimately dismissing Australia.
Until Zampa frustrated by adding 38 for the ninth wicket with Mitchell Starc, they had done little wrong.
Woakes was dropped after a miserable first three games of this tournament, but he summed up England’s belated improvement with two impressive appearances.
He struck in the second over to catch Travis Head at slip – breaking the opening partnership with David Warner, which had scored 175 in Australia’s previous game – and then he had Warner caught off the top edge with a slower ball.
Afterwards, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, two thorns in England’s team from last year’s Ashes series, tried to rebuild with a score of 75 from 96 balls, but England conceded just six goals in that time to prevent the score from running away.
Adil Rashid rolled brilliantly through the middle and was rewarded when Smith cut a long ball into the short third. Then wicketkeeper Josh Inglis hit a reverse sweep to the same fielder.
Mark Wood was more expensive, his 10 overs costing 70 runs, but one of his two wickets was that of Labuschagne – caught in front by a ball that would have hit the top of leg stump flush.
Nevertheless, Australia were eliminated, something England had found difficult throughout the tournament, securing their fifth win in a row.
“It hurts a lot” – reaction
England captain Jos Buttler: “I feel like we have the same conversation after every game at the moment.
“It definitely feels like a low point. I had a few, but definitely as a captain. To be in this position after arriving in India with high hopes is incredibly hard and disappointing.”
Australia captain Pat Cummins: “It was great. The boys played brilliantly. We found a way to win every game.”
“I feel like we improved a little bit in every game. I still don’t think we played the entire game, but we had different winners that won the game.”
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