Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
THRASH, BANG WALLOP
Morgan’s men give the Aussies one hell of a beating to storm into first final for 27 years
WITH a swing and a swagger, captain Eoin Morgan fittingly smashed the winning runs.
And so, after four years, 98 matches and countless records, England are into the World Cup final.
What a time for this band of brothers to click so perfectly and in such harmony to see off their oldest and fiercest rivals by eight wickets in what can only be described as an utter thrashing.
Take a bow Jason Roy, who eyed up the target of 224 and took a huge 85-run bite out of it in the way that only the most destructive batsmen in the world can do.
Take a bow Jofra Archer, the most recent arrival into this setup but who has become a cult hero thanks to his pace, skill and nerveless ability to deliver 2-32 in just his 13th ODI.
He even left Alex Carey with a cut chin from a bouncer.
Take a bow man-of-the-match Chris Woakes for his 3-20 on his home turf to dismantle the Australian top order and set the tone for the day.
And take a bow Adil Rashid, battling with a sore shoulder all tournament only to bamboozle the batsmen and break Australia’s 50th World Cup centurypartnership at the right time.
From the first ball of the second over, England were in control. David Warner, booed out to the middle, had crunched the first ball of the match for four but their was no such joy for Australian skipper Aaron Finch.
He was trapped plumb lbw first ball by Archer – and he took the review with him.
Woakes soon found his line and his length to have Warner caught behind and allow the fans to clear their throats again.
And when Peter Handscomb was bowled by the local hero Australia were 14-3 and the mountain was growing by the over. Don’t forget they are the reigning champions and had never lost a World Cup semi-final.
The second of those statements is no longer true thanks to a skilful, powerful and ruthless display at a ground that certainly knows how to make the most of English success.
Exactly one year to the day since England’s footballers failed to squeeze past Croatia in Russia, the Hollies Stand here at Edgbaston broke out their own rendition of “Cricket’s coming home!” and who would doubt this knowledgeable crowd now?
They will know England have laid down some kind of Ashesrelated marker in the way they played here, just three weeks before that contest gets underway. But let us park that great rivalry for a moment, because this game was about putting to bed 27 years of 50-over failure.
There have been World Cup disasters – such as 2015 when they failed to make it out of the group stages following a dismal defeat to Bangladesh – mixed in with Champions Trophy semifinals and finals disappointments which mean England are still yet to win a global 50-over trophy.
When they meet New Zealand on Sunday at Lord’s, they have the chance of a lifetime to correct that anomaly, and they will get to do it by playing the game in their own courageous and attacking way.
No one epitomises that ethos better than Roy, who should have crowned the day with a brilliant, blistering hundred but was denied by an awful decision by umpire Kumar Dharmasena who gave him out caught down the legside when he did not hit the ball.
The only problem was that Jonny Bairstow had already burned England’s review for a straightforward lbw decision and that meant Roy had nothing left for the howler.
He may have lingered a little too long to remonstrate with the umpires, and it earned him a 30 per cent match fee fine – about £2,000 – and two demerit points.
At least he had already provided plenty of entertainment, smashing Steve Smith for three successive sixes to go with one he flicked off Mitchell Starc to show his golden wrists are something else he has in common with school chum Danny Cipriani.
Smith had been the mainstay of Australia’s innings, scoring 85 runs of his own from 54 more balls than Roy, whose departure only made way for Joe Root and Morgan to finish things off in the same vein.