“We came here in September and Pakistan showed us how to play cricket" : Justin Langer

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Australia defeated Pakistan by 20 runs in Dubai to grab an eighth consecutive ODI win, its first 5-0 series victory overseas since 2008, and no shortage of World Cup momentum.

Another freewheeling Glenn Maxwell masterclass and formidable opening stand between Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja powered Australia to 7-327 in Sunday’s series finale.

Maxwell made a mockery of an under-strength Pakistan attack desperately low on confidence, scoring 70 from 33 deliveries, while a dehydrated Khawaja top-scored with 98.

Much like the previous dead rubber at the same venue, Pakistan’s chase was promising but they ultimately finished at 7-307 as Jason Behrendorff (3/63) and Maxwell (1/45) were the pick of the Aussie bowlers.

Haris Sohail’s 130 guided his team to a point where they required 89 from the final 10 overs.

Nathan Lyon snapped a 102-run stand between Sohail and Umar Akmal with a well-flighted delivery, while Kane Richardson claimed the all-important scalp of Sohail in the 41st over.

Australia’s World Cup defence was a jittery and jumbled mess at the start of the year, in terms of selection and on-field performances, but its turned the corner over the past five weeks.

Finch’s team stunned India last month, becoming the first Australian outfit to fight back from 0-2 and win a five-match bilateral ODI series.

Finch led the way as the tourists ruthlessly crushed Pakistan in the UAE, topping the run-scoring charts with 451 to set a new record for most runs by an Australian in a five-match ODI series.


“It’s very satisfying,” Australia coach Justin Langer said. “We came here in September and Pakistan showed us how to play cricket. We worked really hard in the summer to turn it around, and 5-0 is a great result. Playing spin bowling has been a problem for a long time, but we’ve worked very hard and put some great plans into place. Everyone in world cricket is working towards the World Cup, and it’s always nice to go into the tournament with confidence. We’ve got some now.”

Finch and Khawaja, batting at the same time David Warner bludgeoned a century in India, gave Australia an ideal platform with a 134-run opening partnership.

Khawaja, called into the squad at the start of 2019 after two years in 50-over exile, is now the world’s leading ODI run-scorer for the year with 769 runs at 59.15.

Finch, who scored 53 on Sunday, is second on that list with 634 at 52.83. Khawaja was unwell late in his knock, calling for assistance in the 33rd over before chipping a catch to Yasir Shah in the 40th over.

Shaun Marsh (61) kept the scoreboard ticking over and Maxwell made run-scoring look outrageously easy, with 58 of his runs coming from boundaries.

Maxwell, who Langer suggested has the potential to “be Virat Kohli” after match-winning innings of 71 and 98 earlier in the series, manipulated the field through a mix of exquisite timing, power hitting and unorthodox strokes.

The allrounder’s explosive innings ended when he attempted a ramp shot in the 49th over, only for Junaid Khan to make a mess of the stumps.

https://www.news.com.au/sport/crick...n/news-story/67f0a02e4c5740c62a53569fdb0aad17

 

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Justin Langer says Australia's stunning 50-over resurgence has only helped to crystallise his World Cup selection outlook, as the reigning world champions consider breaking up the most successful opening partnership in their ODI history.

The Aussies' hot streak, marked with an eighth-straight victory over Pakistan on Sunday to seal their first 5-0 series whitewash abroad since 2008, even prompted Ricky Ponting to text Langer last week saying he "wished the World Cup was starting today".

Their success has been built on the dominant form of Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja, who now average 64.07 batting together, comfortably the highest mark ever recorded by Australian opening pair (minimum 10 innings together).

But the Aussies also got yet another reminder of the looming return of David Warner on Sunday, with the explosive opening batsman continuing his blazing Indian Premier League form with a 55-ball century.

All three players would appear locks to be make the World Cup squad, but throwing Warner into the mix will force Australia into a difficult call over who will take on the new ball in their tournament-opener against Afghanistan on June 1.

Langer insists it's a good to problem to have, hinting one of the trio may have to bat at first drop.

"Aaron has had a really good partnership with David Warner as well. This partnership's blossoming between Aaron and 'Uzzie' at the moment," said Langer.

"They (Finch and Khawaja) did it in the Test series as well (against Pakistan in October), they seem to jell really well. They're both pretty chilled out and I think they work really well together. I think it's a positive thing.

"David has shown he's a very versatile player, Uzzie's batted three a number of times, Finchy's batted in the middle order. Versatility's important."

While Khawaja has batted at No.3 before, he's averaged 65.50 since returning to the opening spot at the start of the recent tour of India. Finch and Warner, meanwhile, have opened the batting in all but three of their combined 209 ODI innings.

The possibility of one of them moving down the order would leave question marks over at least one of top-order players Shaun Marsh, Australia's most reliable batter during their barren run of 50-over results last year, or Peter Handscomb, who struck his maiden ODI century in India last month.

Australia's recent winning streak comes despite the absence of stars Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Steve Smith and Warner, as well as Pat Cummins for four of those games.

And while Langer admits fitting up to 19 contenders into a 15-man World Cup squad will leave some players "brutally unlucky", the former Test batsman says their strong recent form had in fact helped, and not hindered, to whittle down the numbers.

"It's actually becoming more obvious by the day to me. The same with the other selectors," he said of picking the World Cup squad, which is set to be picked on April 9.

"It becomes more clear as you watch games. That's why games are so important. There's obviously going to be a couple of really disappointed players. But that's the tough business we're in.

"We know categorically there are going to be one or two guys brutally unlucky not to get selected because they're all going so well … the blokes in the squad at the moment will be praying it's not them."

The Australian selectors have decisions to make on numerous front, not just the identity of their openers. Chief among them is how they opt to utilise their 'big three' pacemen for the World Cup ahead of an ensuing Ashes campaign.

Cummins has been in career-best ODI form this year, Starc is the reigning World Cup player of the tournament and Hazlewood was an integral part of the 2015 triumph, but the latter pair's absence against India and Pakistan due to injury has opened the door to others.

"What's most pleasing is a lot of other guys have stepped up," Langer said.

"The emergence of Jhye Richardson. We see the talent of Nathan Coulter-Nile. We see the left arm of Jason Behrendorff. We saw Kane Richardson's last over (in the fourth ODI against Pakistan) was just absolutely brilliant. You need really good bowlers at the death.

"There's actually some good depth of talent now. It's not just about three bowlers.

"There's a number of guys who we could easily select … we've got some more confidence in the other guys."

The World Cup hopes of Nathan Lyon, meanwhile, appear to have firmed after Langer talked up the flexibility offered by having two specialist spinners in their squad.

Lyon and leg-spinner Adam Zampa have played alongside each other for eight of Australia's past 10 ODIs, admittedly all on the subcontinent where pitches generally favour slow bowlers.

But Langer said they are conditions Australia could encounter in the United Kingdom this year as well.

"They're doing a really good job aren't they?" Langer said. "In these conditions we've played two spinners, rarely do Australian cricket teams do that.

"But we've done it here and they've done a good job, which gives us more flexibility. Finchy knows if we get to Old Trafford and it's spinning, we can play two spinners because we've actually put it into practice.

"We've done three quicks or four quicks for a very long time in Australian cricket, now we've got another option, which is good."

https://www.cricket.com.au/news/jus...-warner-khawaja-australia-pakistan/2019-04-01