1st Day 2nd Match

Australia defeated England by a margin of 111 runs and get their World Cup campaign off to a great start. Australia scored 342 for 9 and bundle out England for a modest score of 231. Aaron Finch turned out to be the star of the show for Australia as he composed a brilliant century. Among the bowlers, Mitchell Marsh took a five-wicket haul for the hosts. James Taylor played a lone hand for England, but he didn’t get the support from the other batsmen.

In the beginning Australia made a nervous start to their innings with Chris Woakes dropped  an easy catch off James Anderson's bowling. The drop catch proved costly, as Finch produced explosive fireworks to explore every nook and corner of the ground. For a brief period, Stuart Broad lifted the sagging morale of the England team by snaffling the wickets of David Warner and Shane Watson in quick succession. But Bailey, Australia's stand-in captain, came to the rescue and stitched an important partnership with Finch. After Finch was dismissed for 135, Maxwell played with a dash of strength and bravery to take Australia to an imposing total. For England, Steven Finn took a five-for, including a hat-trick at the end of Australia's innings.

While chasing down a huge total of 343, England capitulated against some disciplined bowling and athletic fielding by Australia. Brad Haddin took a superb one-handed catch to dismiss England captain, Eoin Morgan. Steve Smith also plucked a catch out of thin air at short cover to send Jos Buttler back to the pavilion. The diminutive Taylor gave a good account of himself with a sparkling innings. It was an innings full of improvisation.

MoM	Aaron Finch
Match	2nd Match, Pool A, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
Date	Sat, Feb 14, 2015
Toss	England won the toss and opt to field
Venue	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Umpires	Aleem Dar , Kumar Dharmasena
3rd Umpire	Billy Bowden
Match Referee	Jeff Crowe
Australia Squad	Playing XI: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Steven Smith, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood Bench: James Faulkner, Xavier Doherty, Pat Cummins
England Squad	Playing XI: Moeen Ali, Ian Bell, Gary Ballance, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, James Taylor, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, James Anderson Bench: Ravi Bopara, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, James Tredwell