 "Former England cricketer reportedly under police investigation over sexual assault allegations"){kind=logo}
 "IPL franchise lodges unique protest against Pakistan ahead of India's Asia Cup showdown against arch-rivals")
ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Match 4 Afghanistan vs Australia Live Updates: Maxwell comes to the crease after the fall of Smith’s wicket and he blasts a boundary to long off to take the team home by 3 wickets and 91 balls. Australia begin 2019 WC campaign on winning note. ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Match 4, Afghanistan vs Australia at the Bristol County Ground in Nottingham, Preview: Afghanistan have two of the top three all-rounders in the ICC’s ODI rankings in Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi. They also have a strong spin bowling attack — Rashid is also No 3 in the ODI bowler rankings — that will have to quickly adapt to the relatively small boundaries in England in conditions that tend to favour swing bowlers. They had a morale-boosting victory over West Indies to win the qualifying series for the 9th and 10th spots at the World Cup. Lack of depth and experience at the highest level, particularly in the batting lineup, and working under a new captain after Naib was surprisingly picked as skipper for the tournament at the expense of Asghar Afghan, who led the team into full membership status of the ICC, to their qualifying series win and their first test victory. Afghanistan’s only win at a World Cup to date was against Scotland at Dunedin four years ago, but this time there’s no so-called Associate member countries at the tournament and the Afghans are the lowest ranked of the 10 teams in the tournament. Australia regained the World Cup title on home soil in 2015 and have the best win-loss ratio of any team at the quadrennial tournament. They have had increasing confidence coming into the tournament on an eight-game winning streak after rallying from 2-0 down for a 3-2 series win in India and sweeping Pakistan 5-0. They have a strong top order with Finch and Usman Khawaja finding form and David Warner and Steve Smith returning from their 12-month bans to restore a wealth of experience and depth to the batting. Mitchell Starc has returned from injury to add some X-factor to the pace attack and lend the in-form Pat Cummins a hand. Australia have varied spinning options with Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon in the squad. However, they are coming off a turbulent period while former captain Smith and vice-captain Warner were suspended for their roles in a ball-tampering controversy in a test match in South Africa. In the fallout, Australia have a new coach, new federation chairman and a new outlook on the game after going through a lengthy drought in the ODI format. Squad Afghanistan: Mohammad Shahzad (w), Hazratullah Zazai , Rahmat Shah , Hashmatullah Shahidi , Asghar Afghan , Mohammad Nabi , Najibullah Zadran , Gulbadin Naib (c), Rashid Khan , Dawlat Zadran , Mujeeb Ur Rahman , Noor Ali Zadran , Samiullah Shenwari , Aftab Alam , Hamid Hassan . Australia: Aaron Finch (capt), Jason Behrendorff , Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile , Pat Cummins , Usman Khawaja , Nathan Lyon , Shaun Marsh , Glenn Maxwell , Kane Richardson , Steve Smith , Mitchell Starc , Marcus Stoinis , David Warner , Adam Zampa . For all the latest news, opinions and analysis from ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, click here With inputs from The Associated Press
Highlights, Afghanistan vs Australia, ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Match, Full Cricket Score: Warner's 89 not out sets up easy win for Aussies
ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Match 4 Afghanistan vs Australia Live Updates: Maxwell comes to the crease after the fall of Smith’s wicket and he blasts a boundary to long off to take the team home by 3 wickets and 91 balls. Australia begin 2019 WC campaign on winning note.
)
Australia have now won each of their last nine ODI matches.
David Warner’s fifty in 74 balls today was the slowest of his ODI career.
David Warner, Man of the Match for his unbeaten 89
Warner: Great win, good start for us. There were nerves getting back into camp and to get back to full intensity. To come out there and the way we bowled, helped set the tone for us. We now move on to the West Indies contest. There is great energy and buzz in the team.
That’s it! Australia win by 7 wickets
Maxwell comes to the crease after the fall of Smith’s wicket and he blasts a boundary to extra cover to take the team home by 7 wickets and 91 balls. Australia begin 2019 WC campaign on winning note.
After 34 overs,Australia 204/2 ( David Warner 88 , Steve Smith 18)
With just 9 left to defend at the start of the over, Rashid Khan still giving his all. That shows the fight of this bowler and justifies the limelight he has got over the last couple of years. Warner on 88, deserved a ton. Nonetheless he is taking his side to victory. Just 4 needed.
After 33 overs,Australia 199/2 ( David Warner 84 , Steve Smith 17)
Mujeeb continues. Smith and Warner showing the maturity and agility. Not hitting the fancy shots to reach the target in quick time. Taking singles and doubles and running those hards as well. Australia need 9 runs to win.
The Bristol crowd certainly hasn’t forgotten though
After 32 overs,Australia 191/2 ( David Warner 80 , Steve Smith 13)
Zadran completes another quiet over. Nothing really exciting happening in the match. 17 more runs required by Australia to knock Afghanistan out in Bristol and start their campaign on a winning note.
After 31 overs,Australia 188/2 ( David Warner 79 , Steve Smith 11)
Mere formalities left in the game. Mujeeb brought back after a long time. He leaked runs at the start and was taken off. Now he has been reintroduced. Managed to produce an edge off Smith but it ran away for four.
After 30 overs,Australia 180/2 ( David Warner 76 , Steve Smith 6)
A mix-up between the batsmen as they tried to steal a double negated by mix-up between the fielders – Rashid and Zazai/Dawlat. Rashid threw at the non-striker’s end to run Smith out but neither the bowler Dawlat nor the back up fielder Zazai were at the stumps, hence ruining the run out chance. A boundary in the end to add salt to the wounds. Australia need 28 runs
After 29 overs,Australia 171/2 ( David Warner 67 , Steve Smith 6)
Rashid continues and Australia continue to deal in singles. In no real hurry the two batsmen in the middle are. Both Warner and Smith would want to go back unbeaten and this would be a huge statement for all the opponents and spectators alike.
After 28 overs,Australia 166/2 ( David Warner 64 , Steve Smith 4)
Hamid completes a quiet over. Australian in control at the moment. Smith and Warner going smoothly in the chase. Only 42 needed to be stoked down in the chase now.
After 27 overs,Australia 164/2 ( David Warner 64 , Steve Smith 3)
Rashid Khan completes his sixth over. A LBW appeal to get Smith out. Turned down by the on-field umpire. Rashid asked captain Naib to go for DRS, he accepted the request. The ball was missing the off stump, the review suggested. 4 runs came in the over. Australia need 44 runs.
After 26 overs,Australia 160/2 ( David Warner 62 , Steve Smith 1)
Hassan returns to the attack for his final hurrah in the match probably. The loss of second wicket has come in blessing in disguise for Smith, who would like to have another shorter stint in the middle as the tournament progresses. Australia need 48 runs.
After 25 overs,Australia 156/2 ( David Warner 60 , Steve Smith 0)
Khawaja attempted to reverse-sweep Rashid. The leggie took it on his ego and came up with a good quicker one, caught Khawaja plumb in front of the wickets. Smith joins Warner in the middle. Not to forget the boos as he came in to bat.
After 24 overs,Australia 150/1 ( David Warner 55 , Usman Khawaja 14)
Nabi continues. A tight over after a long time. Just 2 off it. Four dots on the last four balls. No room whatsoever to Warner to open his arms. Australia need 58 runs.
After 23 overs,Australia 148/1 ( David Warner 54 , Usman Khawaja 13)
Fifty for Warner. He achieves this in 74 balls and with fans booing him all over the ground. He started off slowly today but recovered well to reach the landmark. Has begun the World Cup on positive note. Australia need 60 runs.
After 22 overs,Australia 142/1 ( David Warner 49 , Usman Khawaja 12)
Nabi continues and he starts off with 5 wides down the leg stump line. Shahzad was again late to move and could not stop the ball. Khawaja added one more four. The target is down 66 from 168 balls.
After 21 overs,Australia 135/1 ( David Warner 48 , Usman Khawaja 6)
Naib continues and it is one of the days when Afghanistan commit one mistake in the middle after the other. A front foot no-ball and then a wide. Captain was the culprit here. Australia need 78 runs.
After 20 overs,Australia 117/1 ( David Warner 40 , Usman Khawaja 3)
Nabi brought back. Yet no luck or wicket for Afghanistan. Five wides came in the over as Nabi fired in one wide of off. Shahzad was not up to the mark to stop that. Afghanistan are letting themselves down with one bad effort in the field after other. Australia need 91 runs.
After 19 overs,Australia 109/1 ( David Warner 39 , Usman Khawaja 1)
Naib is trying but the effort by the fielders is a disappointing one and is not helping the cause of the bowlers. Had that boundary stopped, only 2 would have come off this over. Now 6. Australia need 98 runs. Don’t worry about the number of balls.
After 18 overs,Australia 103/1 ( David Warner 34 , Usman Khawaja 0)
Khawaja has joined Warner in the middle and there are now two good players of spin bowling, both however has their own ways of dealing with spin. Rashid into the attack and hit for a four by Warner. He has faced him many times in SRH nets and is benefitting by that experience here.100 up for Australia as well.
After 17 overs,Australia 98/1 ( David Warner 29 , Usman Khawaja 0)
A successful over for Afghanistan. They have removed Finch and who else to do the job than the captain Naib himself. But just one wicket won’t do much really. Rashid and Co need to rise and shine. This is the moment.