World Cup 2019: 3 most defining moments for each team in this tournament

Australia

Finch and Warner scored all the runs for Australia before failing in the all-important semi-final

#1 Injuries to key players

Australia was the first team to qualify for the semi-final before they ran into injury issues. They lost Josh Hazlewood before the tournament started. He could have been more than a handy bowler on English conditions. Josh was followed by Shaun Marsh and the final nail in the coffin was the injury to Usman Khawaja which ruled him out for the crucial semi-final.

In between, Marcus Stoinis missed a few matches due to a side strain and was not at his best. Even Glenn Maxwell was a doubtful starter in Australia’s last league match against South Africa before he made it to the playing XI at the last minute.

#2 Failing to get rid of their tormentor Faf du Plessis

Going into their last league match, Australia had the option to beat South Africa and stay away from hosts England in the semi-final. But for that to happen they had to first get rid of their tormentor Faf du Plessis. Before this match, du Plessis had scored 980 ODI runs against Australia at an average 49 including 4 hundred.

In that crucial league match, Australia once again ran into the South African captain who scored his 5th century against them off 94 balls. Faf’s innings ensured that Australia had to meet England than New Zealand in the semi-final. That proved to be their demise.

#3 The combined failure of both the openers in the semi-final

Australia started their semi-final against England with a huge advantage. They had won an important toss and their two in-form openers David Warner (640 runs) and Aaron Finch (507 runs) were given the opportunity to make first use of a good wicket. But at that defining moment, both the openers were back in the pavilion by the third over of the innings and with that Australia were no more the world champions.