Australia’s Road to CWC 2019 Semi-Finals: Throwback to How the Defending Champions Fared in Round-Robin Stage
One of the most-settled sides on both paper and field, the Australian team was the first side to qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. With all of their three cylinders – batting, bowling, and fielding – in top form, the Kangaroos would be vying to lift World Cup trophy for the record 6th time.
One of the most-settled sides on both paper and field, the Australian team was the first side to qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. With all of their three cylinders – batting, bowling, and fielding – in top form, the Kangaroos would be vying to lift World Cup trophy for the record 6th time. The Aussies have performed as a group, so much so that two of their top players – David Warner and Mitchell Starc – are in the most run-scoring and most wicket-taking list already. ICC CWC 2019 Semi-Finals Schedule: India to Take On New Zealand and Australia to Face England in Cricket World Cup Semis.
As Australia secured a berth for the semi-finals of ICC World Cup 2019, we at LatestLY, bring you the journey of five-time World Champions in this WC tournament so far, and how their batting and bowling performances were in the group stage, heading into the important knock-out round that starts from July 9. Usman Khawaja Out Of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Due to Hamstring Injury, Matthew Wade Set to Replace Him in Australian Team.
Australia’s Batting in WC 2019: The batting unit, except David Warner and skipper Aaron Finch, has largely failed to perform consistently in the World Cup. Wicket-keeper batsman Alex Carey has been a find of the tournament for them, and has performed in patches. As for other big names in the side say Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell, they haven’t been able to live upto their expectations.
Australia’s Batsmen Performance in WC Group Stage:
| Sr. No. | Player Name | Matches | Runs | Highest | Average | 100s | 50s |
| 1. | David Warner | 9 | 638 | 166 | 79.95 | 3 | 3 |
| 2. | Aaron Finch | 9 | 507 | 153 | 56.33 | 2 | 3 |
| 3. | Alex Carey | 9 | 329 | 85 | 65.80 | - | 3 |
Australia’s Bowling in WC 2019: The problems have been the same for their bowling unit. Mitchell Starc seems to be in the form of his life and has largely carried the team’s burden on his shoulders single-handedly. None other than Pat Cummins has been able to chip-in consistently. With two big games ahead of them the bowling unit will have to bring their A-game henceforth to outplay their opponents.
Australia’s Bowlers Performance in WC Group Stage:
| Sr. No. | Players Name | Matches | Wickets | Best | Average | Econ. | S/R |
| 1. | Mitchell Starc | 9 | 26 | 5/26 | 16.61 | 5.18 | 19.2 |
| 2. | Pat Cummins | 9 | 13 | 3/33 | 30.23 | 4.96 | 36.5 |
| 3. | Jason Behrendorff | 4 | 9 | 5/44 | 21.00 | 5.25 | 24.0 |
Australia had a smooth sail to the semi-finals. With David Warner, Aaron Finch, and Mitchell Starc doing the drty laundry on almost all the occasions, the team was the first side in the World Cup 2019 to book one of the four semi-finals spots. With 7 wins and 2 losses in their 9 games, Australia is only behind India on the ICC World Cup 2019 Points table.
Road to Semi-Finals: ICC World Cup 2019 Points Table
| Rank | Team | M | W | L | T | N-R | T | NRR |
| 2 | Australia | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0.868 |
The Australian team has shown why they are one of the most-feared sides in the world, no matter with what playing XI they are playing. With David Warne, Aaron Finch and Mitchell Starc in such stupendous form, the alarm plans would already be ringing in the English camp. The two sides perhaps have the biggest rivalry in the sport and the fans would be really looking forward to it. A mini-Ashes before the Ashes, is what the second semi-final of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup be on July 11. Till then, stay tuned to LatestLY for all the latest updates about ICC World Cup 2019.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 08, 2019 05:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).