Australia’s stalwart opener David Warner’s incredible 147-ball 166 guided his team to 380/5 against Bangladesh during the ICC Cricket World Cup match in Cardiff on Thursday. With this remarkable 166-run knock Warner displaced England batsman Jason Roy as Warner’s innings is now the highest score of the ongoing World Cup.
The 32-year-old smashed a staggering 14 fours and 5 maximums in his innings, before Soumya dismissed him in the 45th over. He had stitched a formidable 121-run stand with skipper Aaron Finch and then formed an outstanding 192-run partnership with Usman Khawaja as Aussies posted a mammoth total.
Earlier, Bangladesh bowled first after Australia captain Aaron Finch won the toss and opted to bat, predicting it a good surface to bat first. The Tigers brought up two changes to the squad with Mohammad Saifuddin and Mosaddek Hossain being ruled out due to injuries. Fast bowler Rubel Hossain and batsman Sabbir Rahman replaced them in the squad. Meanwhile, Australia made three changes.
It was a steady and solid start from the Aussies with both openers Aaron Finch and David Warner on the crease. Warner got a life in the 4th over when his catch was dropped by Sabbir on backward point. Australia then crossed the 50-run mark within 10th over, with both batsmen playing Bangladesh bowlers with ease. Mashrafe kept changing his bowlers but Aussie openers stood their ground and reached the 100-run mark in just 16 overs.
Both Warner and Finch picked up their half centuries and were looking dangerous. Finally in the 20th over, Bangladesh got the breakthrough from the most unlikely source. Soumya Sarkar earned the Tigers’ must-needed wicket in his first over of the game by removing Australian skipper Aaron Finch for 53, leaving Australia at 121/1 after 20.5 overs.
After Finch’s dismissal Warner kept on moving the scoreboard alongside Usman Khawaja. In the next 10 overs, they scored 56 runs and Warner was moving closer to his ton. Australia were 187/1 in the 33rd over when Warner brought up his century, the left-hander's second of the tournament after his 107 against Pakistan.
Both batsman batted sensibly and got their 100-run alliance for the second wicket stand during 37th over. Warner’s partner Khawaja was playing a handy innings and got his 50 off 50 balls. Aussies were eyeing towards a mammoth score and after the 40th over, Warner and Finch removed the shackles and started to play in an aggressive manner.
Warner then reached 150-run milestone and was looking good for 200 before Soumya struck again and got his wicket, leaving Aussies at 313/2 after 44.2 overs. However, that didn’t confined the Aussie batsmen as they reached 368 in 49 overs, before rain stopped play. Rain stopped the match for a short period of time. Soumya surprisingly was pick of the Tigers’ bowlers as he scalped 3 wickets.
