Australia defeat the minnows Afghanistan by a huge margin of 275 runs of Pool A played at the day-night clash held at the WACA ground in Perth. This win took the Aussies to third spot in Pool A. New Zealand and Sri Lanka are sitting prettily on the first and second spot respectively. There was no rationale behind the Afghanistan skipper – Mohammad Nabi’s decision to field first on winning the toss. It proved very costly to the entire Afghan team. As the Kangaroo batsmen didn’t waste much time and started playing aggressive cricket throughout their 50 over quota.

David Warner silences Afghanistan

Australia lost their very first wicket in the third over of the match when Aaron Finch (4) was dismissed on 14/1. However David Warner 178 (133b, 4sx19, 6sx5) and Steven Smith 95 (98b, 4sx8, 6sx1) played spectacularly and the duo went on complete rampage against the minnows at Perth. Afghanistan had no clue to stop them whatsoever. Both the batsmen added a huge 260-run stand for the second wicket and guided Australia to put a huge total on the scoreboard.

David Warner’s dismissal brought the explosive Glenn Maxwell to the crease. The right handed batsman didn’t disappoint his fans either. It was his day as the 26-year-old played one of his best blitzkrieg knocks in recent times. Maxwell 88 (39b, 4sx6, 6sx7) put 65-run stand with Steven Smith and then again 43 run partnership with James Faulkner to help Australia’s total move beyond 390-run mark.

Australia piled a mammoth 417/6 at the end of 50-over. It is statistically the highest ever total recorded in the history of Cricket World Cup for the last four decades. All Afghan bowlers proved to be expensive except Javed Ahmedi (4-0-18-0) who was able to tame the Aussie batsmen to some extent but couldn’t pick any wicket.

The Afghan batting order was completely destroyed by the Aussie seamers who shared 8 wickets between them. It was Mitchell Johnson’s fiery spell (7.3-0-22-4) that did not let the visitors breathe. He dismissed three out of the top four batsmen of the Afghan Cricket team very cheaply. Only Nawroz Mangal 33 (35b, 4sx2, 6sx2) could make a thirty plus score in the match.

The defeat was already looming over the visitor’s head and it was only a matter of time when the Australian team could register their second victory in the tournament. Australia bowled out the Afghan cricket team for just 142 at the end of 37.3 overs. David Warner’s stunning 178-run knock fetched him the Man-of-the-Award award.

Brief Scorecard

Australia 417/6 (50 overs): (Warner 178, Smith 95 and Maxwell 88; Zadran 88/2)

Afghanistan 142/10 (37.3 Overs): (Mangal 33, Zadran 24; Johnson 22/4)

Tags: Afghanistan, Australia, Cricket, Cricket World Cup, CWC 2015, David Warner, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Perth, WACA