Head fights back as Wood, Rashid stifle Australia
Birmingham, June 10: Travis Head propelled Australia to a respectable 277/9 with his fiery unbeaten 71-run knock after England’s Mark Wood and Adil Rashid caused a batting collapse in a crucial Group A Champions Trophy here on Saturday.
Put in to bat, Aaron Finch (68) and Steve Smith (56) blasted twin half centuries at the top, while Head scored an unbeaten fifty down the order after England decided to bowl.
Seamer Wood (4/33) and spinner Rashid (4/41) snapped four wickets each, while Ben Stokes (1/49) took one wicket at Edgbaston here.
In their must-win encounter, world champions Australia lost opener David Warner (21) in the eighth over when he edged a Wood delivery and was caught by wicket-keeper Jos Butler.
Finch and Smith then dug their heels in and ensured Australia don't suffer any more hiccups and brought up the first 50 runs in 8.5 overs.
The duo rotated the strike well and picked up odd boundaries to guide Australia across the 100mark in 18 overs.
Meanwhile, Finch completed his 50 off 47 balls in the 17th over with the help of seven fours. But he became a victim of Stokes in the 23rd over when a miscued shot was smartly taken by Eoin Morgan, rushing from mid-off.
At 136/2, Moises Henriques joined Smith and the duo brought up the 150 in 25.3 overs. But the former couldn't stay longer as his miscued slog shot was holed out at midon by Plunkett off Rashid.
In the 31st over, Smith sent Plunkett for a boundary to reach his fifty off 68 balls with the help of five fours. One over later, Plunkett caught the Australian captain at midoff after he failed to negotiate a Wood delivery.
Head and Glenn Maxwell (20) then shared 58 runs off 62 balls to take Australia to 239.