KOLKATA, India (AP) — England bowed out of the Cricket World Cup with a 93-run consolation win over Pakistan on Saturday, and Mitchell Marsh recorded his career-best ODI score as semifinal-bound Australia beat Bangladesh by eight wickets.
England finished seventh in the 10-team table with three victories from nine games in its disappointing campaign to defend the title it won at home in 2019, but it did manage to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Ben Stokes’ 76-ball 84 formed the foundation of England’s strong total of 337-9 as Pakistan’s slim hopes of overtaking New Zealand on net run-rate for a place in the semifinal effectively ended once Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bat.
Left-arm fast bowler David Willey claimed 3-56 in 10 overs in his last one-day international to leave with 100 ODI wickets as Pakistan was bowled out for 244 with another timid batting display by its top-order batters.
The last-wicket pair of Haris Rauf, who made 35, and Mohammad Wasim (16 not out) narrowed the margin of defeat with a quick-fire 53 runs before Pakistan was bowled out in 43.3 overs.
Pakistan finished fifth with eight points from four victories and five losses to edge sixth-place Afghanistan on superior net run-rate.
Australia finished third with 14 points — equal with second-place South Africa but lower on net run-rate.
The Aussies will play South Africa in the semifinals on Thursday in Kolkata. The two sides had also met in the 1999 World Cup semifinal at Edgbaston, where Australia advanced after a thrilling tied game.
Table-topper India will take on New Zealand in the first semifinal at Mumbai on Wednesday.
England capitalized on Pakistan’s pacers struggling with the new ball in the tournament as opening pair of Jonny Bairstow (59) Dawid Malan (31) laid a solid foundation of 82 runs.
Stokes and Joe Root then played with lot of freedom against both pace and spinners as they raised another impressive 132-run partnership.
Stokes could have been out early in his aggressive knock but Shaheen Afridi missed out on a return catch before the leftarmer dismissed both batters in the last powerplay.
Stokes’ innings included plenty of ramp shots behind the wickets and the lefthander effectively reverse swept the spinners as he hit 11 fours and two sixes before Afridi uprooted the offstump with a brilliant delivery.
Root followed soon as Afridi induced a leading edge in his next over and Buttler’s disappointing World Cup ended without a half-century when he was run-out for 27.
Harry Brook hit a rapid 30 off 17 balls and Willey smacked two fours and a six in his five-ball knock of 15 to give England a strong finish. Afridi ended up with another expensive figures of 2-72 while Haris Rauf (3-64) and Mohammad Wasim (2-74) also went for plenty.
Willey took the game away from Pakistan by removing both openers Abdullah Shafique and Fakhar Zaman cheaply inside his first two overs. Skipper Babar Azam’s below-par tournament continued before he offered a tame catch at short mid-wicket after scoring 38 and Mohammad Rizwan was deceived by Moeen Ali’s flighted delivery and got clean bowled for 36.
Legspinner Adil Rashid (2-55) then combined well with Ali (2-60) and rattled Pakistan middle-order by getting some appreciable turn from the slow wicket and Willey had topscorer Salman Ali Agha (51) got caught at mid-on for his 100th ODI wicket.
MARSH STARS FOR AUSTRALIA
At Pune, Marsh reached 177 not out off 132 balls as Australia registered its highest successful run-chase in World Cup history.
He put on 175 runs off 135 balls for the unbeaten third wicket with Steve Smith, who scored 63 not out as Australia finished with 307-2 in 44.4 overs.
This was after Adam Zampa picked 2-32 in 10 overs to help restrict Bangladesh to 306-8.
It was Australia’s seventh straight win in the tournament. The five-time champions had started slow with losses to India and South Africa, but bounced back in style to confirm a semifinal spot.
Bangladesh is placed eighth despite and will qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy unless the Netherlands beats India on Sunday.
Australia’s chase got off to a poor start as Travis Head was bowled for 10.
David Warner scored 53 off 61 balls, his second half-century of the tournament. The opener also has two hundreds in the tournament.
Warner put on 120 runs off 116 balls for the second wicket with Marsh. He hit six fours, while Marsh reached 50 off only 37 balls, hitting six fours and three sixes.
Australia was ahead of the curve at 132-1 in 22 overs when Warner was out caught against the run of play.
Marsh carried on though, scoring his third ODI hundred off 87 balls. It was also his second century of the tournament. He accelerated thereafter, scoring 77 off the next 45 balls faced, and hit another five sixes as well as six fours.
At the other end, Smith scored a finely timed half-century off 55 balls. The batsman had missed Australia’s last game against Afghanistan because of vertigo.
Earlier, Zampa edged closer to Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan’s all-time record of most wickets in a World Cup for a spinner.
Muralitharan had picked 23 wickets in 2007, with Zampa now leading the wickets’ charts with 22 — the most for an Australian in a World Cup.
He dismissed Litton Das for 36, while also sending back Mushfiqur Rahim for 21 runs. In doing so, he also went past compatriot Brad Hogg who had picked 21 wickets in 2007. Australian great Shane Warne had picked 20 wickets in 1999.
Towhid Hridoy top-scored for Bangladesh with 74 runs. Marnus Labuschagne enjoyed his day in the field, running out stand-in skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto for 45 and then Mahmudullah for 32 runs.
Sean Abbott also picked 2-61 as Bangladesh recorded its highest total in the tournament.
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