David Warner and Mitchell Marsh hit a mammoth opening partnership to set up Australia for a 62-run victory over Pakistan in Bengaluru.

 By PakPassion Staff (20th October, 2023)

Australia 367 for 9 (Warner 163, Marsh 121, Afridi 5/54) beat Pakistan 305 (Imam 70, Shafique 64, Zampa 4/53) by 62 runs.

Warner top-scored with a brilliant 163, and Mitchell Marsh hit an excellent 121, with the openers adding 259 runs together – the second-highest opening stand in men’s Cricket World Cup history and a record at the tournament for Australia.

But Shaheen Shah Afridi helped Pakistan get some control back in the game, finishing with a five-wicket haul to limit the total to a large but not un-chasable 367/9.

Australia’s total was temporarily at risk when Pakistan’s openers put on a big partnership of their own.

But such a huge target was always likely to be a challenge, and it was Adam Zampa and Marcus Stoinis who did much of the damage with the ball as wickets tumbled in the second half of the innings.

Victory means that Australia have recovered well from a poor start to the tournament, with Pat Cummins’ side now level on four points with Pakistan and well in the mix for one of the semi-final qualification spots.