The Final Word, World Cup 2019 Podcast: Listen to Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins as they discuss New Zealand and Australia's comprehensive wins on Day 3

Day 3 at the World Cup: David Warner and Steve Smith returned from their international cricket exiles to help steer Australia to a seven-wicket win over Afghanistan in the opening game of its World Cup title defense.

Warner posted an unbeaten 89 as the Aussies surpassed Afghanistan’s 207 with 15 overs to spare.

Smith was out for 18 just three runs short of victory. Glenn Maxwell hit the next ball to the boundary to lift Australia to 209-3.

Warner and Aaron Finch (66) reunited at the top of the order and shared a 96-run opening stand to get the chase started in Bristol after Australia reduced Afghanistan to 207 from 38.2 overs.

Warner and ex-captain Smith were back following 12-month bans imposed in the wake of a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in March last year that rocked Australian cricket.

They combined in a 49-run third-wicket partnership to guide Australia to victory, both withstanding booing, jeers, and chants from the crowd at the County Cricket Ground.

Earlier in the day, Three of the four openers batted unbeaten in vastly different circumstances as New Zealand crushed Sri Lanka by 10 wickets with almost 34 overs to spare in their Cricket World Cup opener on Saturday.

Sri Lanka was dismissed for 136 in 29.2 overs at Sophia Gardens, and only opener and captain Dimuth Karunaratne offered serious resistance to be left high and dry on 52 not out.

Black Caps openers Martin Guptill, 73 not out off 51 balls, and Colin Munro, 58 not out off 47 balls, raced to 137-0 off 16.1 overs, completing a dominant victory.

Listen to journalists Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins as they analyse New Zealand vs Sri Lanka and Australia vs Afghanistan in this daily podcast.

With inputs from AP

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