‘Criminal’: Aussie Cup hopes in tatters

Australia are staring down an uphill battle as the side was dismissed in the 49th over for 223.

Jason Behrendorff was the last wicket to fall, bowled for 1 with six balls still remaining.

It was a “below par” performance from Australia who lost wickets early and regularly.

“Criminal from Australia,” was Brendan Julian’s assessment after the side was dismissed with balls still remaining.

Mike Hussey is known as Mr Cricket but was playing Mr Optimistic.

“It was well below par,” Hussey said. “Having said that, there was a bit of spin there and a bit of seam movement early, Australia are going to have to make early inroads. Plus runs on the board, we saw in the first semi-final, New Zealand did it to India, it can be done but Australia are behind the eight-ball.”

Steve Smith was the only saving grace with 85 off 119 balls as he held the innings together.

Steve Smith was dismissed in a freak run out.Source:AP

10.59pm

Buttler ends Smith rearguard

English wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has pulled of a brilliant bit of fielding to dismiss Steve Smith for 85.

The Aussie star was the mainstay of the innings and built Australia past the 200 mark.

But Buttler threw the stumps down at the non-strikers end and sent the last batsman back to the pavillion.

The ball even went through Smith’s legs.

Mitchell Starc followed the next ball, edging Chris Woakes behind to leave Australia 9 down.

Steve Smith was nutmegged to be dismissedSource:FOX SPORTS

Australia back in crisis

Glenn Maxwell’s run a ball 21 has ended with a tame fend to cover, leaving Australia six down for 157.

The wicket leaves Steve Smith with it all to do, batting with the tail as Australia’s last real batting hope.

Now Pat Cummins has steered a catch to Joe Root, leaving the Aussies seven down for 166.

Smith booed for match saving 50

Steve Smith has steadied the ship for Australia with a stunning performance with the bat to save the day.

It has Australia hoping for a reasonable score to bowl at with the former Aussie captain hitting a well made 50.

He’s continued his trend of pulling out the big scores when Australia needs it most.

“Good man for a crisis today for Australia,” Nasser Hussain said in commentary. “The smile goes up with the boos, he won’t care one bit.”

Steve Smith's cheeky 50 smileSource:FOX SPORTS

Smith passed the milestone with little fanfare but plenty of noise from the parochial Edgbaston crowd.

Carey goes after steadying the ship

After 26 overs, Australia have steadied the ship and were rebuilding well.

Steve Smith and Alex Carey have built up a partnership of 100 to save the day for the Aussies.

But with the score 116, Carey launched into the deep mid-wicket finding James Vince right on the boundary.

He was going for the boundary to bring up his 50 but was dismissed for 46 off 70 balls.

But the partnership gave Australia a platform to launch after the carnage of the initial overs.

Steve Smith then brought up his 50 off 72 balls.

Steve Smith has done it again.Source:AFP

Stoinis quickly followed Carey, dismissed LBW to a Adil Rashid wrong’un, leaving Australia 5/118 off 28 overs.

Australia save worst for semi

Edgbaston has the reputation of drawing the most parochial crowds in England and hostile home fans were predicted to provide an added challenge to the Aussies, who have not won at the ground since 2001.

However, the stadium was less than half full when the first ball was bowled but you wouldn’t have known there any empty seats judging by the noise being made when Jofra Archer dismissed Aaron Finch LBW for a first ball duck. Supporters went wild when the umpire raised his finger and raised their voices again when Finch’s challenge was rejected by the third umpire.

Finch was followed quickly by David Warner and Peter Handscomb as the hoodoo looked to have taken hold.

The 3/27 off the first 10 overs is Australia’s worst power play score of the tournament.

Steve Smith has been trying to take the heat out of the game, scoring 4 off 24 balls.

Carey catch saves more disaster

Three down, and it could have been worse for Australia with Alex Carey taking a brilliant catch to save his stumps.

Jofra Archer has been fired up and bounced the Aussie keeper with the ball knocking his helmet off.

Carey caught the lid before it rolled onto the stumps.

But the ball hit him on the chin and drew blood.

However, Australia have been in this situation before surprisingly with Aussie fans still holding onto hope.

Disaster after umpires call saves Handscomb

Peter Handscomb’s late call up to the Aussie side could have been very short lived if not for an umpires call in his favour.

The Aussie was trapped on the crease but the ball hit high on the pad.

Umpire Marais Erasmus called it not out but after England sent it upstairs Hawkeye showed it would have just clipped the bail, leaving it umpires call and saving the Aussies further catastrophe.

Peter Handscomb saved by the thinnest of margins.Source:FOX SPORTS

But it didn’t last long as Handcomb played a ball onto his stumps as Australia were left reeling at 3/14 in the sixth over.

Disaster strikes

Aaron Finch is gone for a golden duck. The Australia skipper was facing his first ball and the first ball from Jofra Archer for the innings — which rapped on the pads of Finch as the delivery tailed in.

The Australian opener was given out by the umpire and decided to review it.

The replays not only showed that Finch missed knicking the ball onto his pad but also Hawkeye tracked it to be crashing into the top of middle stump — confirming the umpires’ decision.

Finch’s start was in stark contrast to that of David Warner, who faced all of the first over and hit Chris Woakes to the boundary on the very first ball.

But Warner did not last much longer as Warner was out the very next over as Woakes got revenge when Warner edged one behind to Jonny Bairstow as the Aussies tumbled to 2-10.

Aussies win toss and bat

Australia has won the toss and elected to bat in its blockbuster semi-final against England.

Peter Handscomb is playing his first match of the tournament after coming into the side as Usman Khawaja’s replacement following the No. 3’s hamstring injury, suffered in the loss to South Africa on the weekend.

That’s the only change for the Aussies. Marcus Stoinis keeps his place despite fitness concerns in the lead-up to the match and Glenn Maxwell avoided the axe amid reports his spot was in danger after a lean World Cup with the bat.

Captain, Aaron Finch confirmed Steve Smith would move up to first drop, with Handscomb at four.

“Peter Handscomb comes in for Usman Khawaja,” Finch said.

“Smith will bat at three today, he is a world class player. Last World Cup he dominated that position.”

Alex Carey has been listed to come in at No. 5 on the team sheet, with Maxwell at No. 6 and Stoinis at No. 7.

That may change depending on the match situation but at this stage it looks as though Carey has been promoted up the order because of his stellar run of form, scoring 85, 71 and 38 not out in his past three innings.

England goes into the match with the same XI from its last-start win over New Zealand.

Skipper Eoin Morgan said he too would have batted first but was unconcerned at losing the toss.

“The tendency has been to bat first but not I’m really bothered, before the World Cup we preferred to chase,” Morgan said.

Top order must stand up

Another century from Aaron Finch against England would be great.Source:AP

Winning the toss will be important in this one as either team will probably look to bat first as has been the trend at this World Cup but what may be more important is which top order manages to stand up.

Last time out Aussie quicks Mitchell Starc and Jason Behrendorff ripped through England with ease and for Starc it would have been welcome relief as he delivered a brilliant performance against a team that historical play him well.

For Behrendorff who has played just 10 ODIs his maiden performance against the Poms delivered career best figures of 5/44 and he will be looking to repeat that.

The UK press have made a lot out of England’s recent winning record against the Aussies but what they have neglected to add is that during their home 2018 whitewash of Australia both David Warner and Steve Smith were suspended.

Warner has the second most runs of this tournament, the highest score (166) and an average of 79.75 — if he and Aaron Finch, who scored a ton last time out against the Poms — and averages 52 against them in ODIs can lay a platform then it could be that Smith punishes England later on.

Similarly England will need Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow to get them off to a flyer.

Roy averages 347 against Australia and Bairstow 38 — they will both need to do at least that for England to have their chance.

Sunny skies for this semi-final

Looks like there won’t be a repeat of the two-day New Zealand v India semi-final with the sun shining in Birmingham.

Pictures from Edgbaston show the sun shining with some cloud cover also overhead but the good news is the forecast is for little chance of rain.

A quick scan shows there may be some light showers in the afternoon but if they come they should pass quickly.

Ricciardo opens up on Aussie cricket

Their pay cheques might be a bit different these days but at least Daniel Ricciardo knows talent when he sees it.

The Renault F1 ace was a guest on BBC Breakfast and relayed just how bad he was at taking on Australia star Marcus Stoinis in backyard cricket when they were kids.

“After school he would come over and play backyard cricket but I was never even close to his level,” Ricciardo told the BBC.

Ricciardo also felt all the pressure in this match is on England.

“They’re probably the favourites but to be honest each team on their day — Australia can rise but it’s a home World Cup for England so you never know.”

English arrogance is out of control

This story sat at the top of The Sun's sports section.Source:The Sun

The England press and former players have lifted the intensity surrounding tonight’s contest with some pre-match banter.

The Sun newspaper displayed forgettable images of David Warner and Steve Smith shedding tears at their post-ball tampering scandal press conferences atop the sport section of their website.

In The Sun article the paper claimed England wanted “to reduce Aussie cheats Steve Smith and David Warner to tears again today” referencing the tears the pair shed during the ball-tampering scandal that had engulfed Australian cricket.

It followed similar arrogance from ex-player Kevin Pietersen who responded to New Zealand’s upset win against India on Thursday night with the shortest of tweets.

“It’s a rivalry I thrived on,” said Pietersen, in a video posted to Instagram.

“It mattered more than anything. You just cannot lose to Australia. You have to be aggressive. Hit the short ball out the ground. Spinner comes on? Run at him. Go out, whack ‘em and get to the final.”

Pietersen failed to mention how many World Cup trophies he lifted during his ODI career.

Meanwhile former England tweaker Graeme Swann — who might simply be most famous in Australia for doing the ‘sprinkler’ dance during the 2010/11 Ashes — has also poured fuel on the fire.

The former off-spinner deciding England were morals to win the match.

“I’m very confident that England, now they’ve got a bit of chutzpah about them — we’ll destroy them (Australia).

England for their part have never even won the World Cup and not made the final since 1992 in Melbourne.

It all comes down to this

Four years of planning will be put on the line for England when they face holders Australia in a blockbuster World Cup semi-final at Edgbaston.

England’s woeful first-round exit at the 2015 edition prompted a complete rethink of their approach to one-day internationals for a side that had long placed Test success above all other considerations.

Australian coach Trevor Bayliss was drafted in with the aim of guiding their bid for a first World Cup title.

The transformation has been impressive, with England climbing to number one in the ODI rankings under the astute captaincy of Eoin Morgan.

Their rise to the summit has been based on dynamic run-scoring, with in-form openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow leading the way.

But the stakes for hosts England are higher than simply the winning of a match that would see them into a final against New Zealand at Lord’s on Sunday.

Host broadcaster Sky has said it will allow the final to be shown on free-to-air television in Britain — but only if England are involved in the showpiece match.

It would be the first time since 2005 that a major England men’s home match had emerged from behind a UK television paywall, with cricket having a chance to reconnect with a lost audience in its birthplace.

Australia, however, have never lost any of their seven previous World Cup semi-finals — although they did tie with South Africa at Edgbaston 20 years ago before advancing into the final thanks to their superior net run-rate from the preceding Super Six stage.

England had won 10 of their last 11 ODIs against Australia prior to the World Cup.

But that counted for nought when Australia landed a psychological blow in the group stage, beating Ashes rivals England by 64 runs at Lord’s last month.

Australia left-arm quicks Jason Behrendorff and Mitchell Starc shared nine wickets between them in a match where Australia captain Aaron Finch made 100 after surviving a testing opening period from England’s fast bowlers.

England's Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy are a formidable duo. (David Davies/PA via AP)Source:AP

Roy, however, was missing with a torn hamstring and since his return, England have secured crucial wins over India and New Zealand that took them into the semi-finals.

“We’re probably more confident than we were three games ago, we’re a different team,” Morgan said. “It feels like we’re back to the team we are.”

Meanwhile, Australia, who have not won in any format at Edgbaston since a 2001 Ashes Test, suffered a surprise 10-run defeat by South Africa at Old Trafford in their final group game.

England, as well as finding a way to cope with Starc, will have to contain the run-scoring threat of a powerful Australian top order.

David Warner has scored 638 runs this tournament following the left-handed opener’s return to international cricket after a 12-month ban for his role in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.

But they will be without Usman Khawaja after the batsman suffered a tournament-ending hamstring injury against South Africa. Peter Handscomb is his replacement.

Australia are bidding for a sixth World Cup title, having won four of the last five editions.

“We’re full of confidence going into this game, but England have been front runners in one-day cricket for the last four years,” said opener Finch. “It will come down to whoever holds their nerve and whoever holds their half-chances.”

— AFP