Australia officially knocked out defending champions England from the ICC World Cup 2023 on Saturday after an emphatic 33-run victory at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Chasing a challenging 287 for victory, England's innings capsized for 253 despite valiant knocks from Ben Stokes (64), Moeen Ali (42) and Chris Woakes (32). Dawid Malan also contributed with 50 runs but they still couldn't get near to the target.
Adam Zampa once again starred with the ball for the five-time champions as he bagged 3 wickets while Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and captain Pat Cummins took two each.
With this sixth defeat, England's chances of qualifying for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy also took a major hit as they are still languishing in last place on the 10-team table and can only move up one spot if they manage to win their final league game against the Netherlands with a big margin.
The top seven teams along with hosts Pakistan will play the tournament two years from now. This is the first time in ODI World Cup history that the title holders have lost six games in their campaign.
Adam Zampa bags POTM again
"I mean just summing up the conditions was important. We batted really well to get to 286. The ground got really dewy. Attacking the stumps was important. It came out as good as it ever has. Felt really good.
"Just tried to be really positive and bat out the 50 overs. Was important to rotate the strike. One of those days. Felt satisfying. Hopefully my best is yet to come," Zampa said after being adjudged Player of the Match.
Labuschagne helps Aussies recover
Earlier in the day, a brilliant fifty from Marnus Labuschagne along with gritty knocks from Cameron Green and Marcus Stoinis helped the Aussies post 286 on the board.
Labuschagne added 75 with Steve Smith (35) before stitching a 61-run stand with Green to help the team recover from 117 for 4. Labuschagne top-scored with 71 while Green and Stoinis made 47 and 35, respectively.
