ICC World Cup 2019: Match 32, England vs Australia – Finch’s record ton, Behrendorff-Starc effectiveness and more stats

The defending champions Australia became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals in the World Cup 2019 with a 64-run win against England at the Lord’s. Aaron Finch (100) and David Warner (53) continued their form with yet another century partnership. However, the Aussies lacked big stands after their departure and were limited to 285/7.

Left-arm pacers Jason Behrendorff (5/44) and Mitchell Starc (3/45) picked up wickets in the powerplay to unsettle the chase. Ben Stokes kept his fight like in the previous game scoring 89 which wasn’t enough for the hosts who were bowled out for 221 in 44.4 overs.

All the statistical highlights from Australia’s big win against England at the Lord’s:

Australia brings an end to their losing streaks:

6 – Australia brought an end to their 6-match losing streak in ODIs against England. The Aussies also lost each of their last six ODIs and also the last seven International matches against the English team in England.

4 – Australia has now been victorious in each of their last four World Cup games against England. England’s last win against the Aussies in the World Cup came way back in 1992.

A record ton for Finch:

1 – Aaron Finch became the first captain to score a World Cup century against England. Graeme Smith’s unbeaten 89 in 2007 was the previous highest individual CWC score by a captain against the English team. Finch is also the first player with two World Cup tons against England. He scored 135 at the MCG in the 2015 edition game against them.

7 – Number of centuries Finch scored in ODIs against England; the most ODI tons by an Australian against any opponent. Ricky Ponting has six centuries apiece against India and New Zealand while Adam Gilchrist also has six hundreds against Sri Lanka.

The new opening pair strike for Australia:

9 – Number of wickets between Jason Behrendorff (5/44) and Mitchell Starc (4/43); the first left-arm pace opening pair to share nine wickets in an ODI. Their nine wickets are also the joint-most by left-arm pacers in an ODI inning. Pakistan’s left-arm fast bowlers bagged nine wickets apiece against Zimbabwe and South Africa during the 2015 World Cup.

2 – Both Behrendorff and Starc picked up 4-wicket hauls in this game; the first left-arm pace opening pair to claim 4-fers in an ODI. This is also the 2nd instance of two left-arm pacers bagging four-fers in an ODI inning. The first such occasion was recorded by Pakistan against Zimbabwe in the 2015 World Cup.

2015 – The last instance of two left-arm pacers sharing the new ball in an ODI for Australia was way back in the 2015 World Cup. Starc opened the bowling with Mitchell Johnson against Sri Lanka in the game played at the SCG.

Finch matches Smith:

4 – Aaron Finch scored 50+ runs in each of his last four innings in this tournament. He is now only the 2nd captain with four consecutive 50+ scores in the history of World Cup. Graeme Smith scored fifties in his first four CWC games during the 2007 edition.

Starc levels Tahir:

5 – Mitchell Starc became the second player to bag as many as five 4-wicket hauls in the World Cup. Imran Tahir became the first player with this feat as he picked up his 5th 4-fer against Afghanistan about ten days ago.

The perfect opening pair:

3 – David Warner and Aaron Finch now have shared three century partnerships in this World Cup; the joint-most in an edition of the mega event by any pair. Aravinda de Silva and Asanka Gurusinha in 1996, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden in 2007 and also Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan in 2015 had three century partnerships a piece.

6 – Warner and Finch put on fifty-plus stands in six out of seven matches in this tournament; the 2nd most by any pair in a single World Cup edition. The former Australian pair of Gilchrist and Hayden had seven such partnerships between them in 2007.