Zampa stars as Australia knock defending champions England out
Australia remain in contention of a semi-final spot with their fifth-win in a row.
A patchy batting performance saw Australia bowled out for 286, with Marnus Labuschagne top-scoring with 71 under the hot afternoon sun in Ahmedabad.
But a superb bowling display denied England a morale-boosting win, with Adam Zampa starring once again to become the tournament’s leading wicket-taker.
Adam Zampa accounted for Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali in his spell.
Dawid Malan (50), Ben Stokes (64) and Moeen Ali (42) were the pick of the batters in another disappointing display from the 2019 winners, but Zampa’s extraordinary figures of 3/21 helped tie England in knots.
Australia’s win sees them put one foot into the semi-finals, while England’s sixth defeat finally sees them mathematically out of contention to finish in the top four.
The Australian team returned to the field of play after the interval wearing black armbands in memory of Mitchell March's grandfather Ross, who passed away on Friday.
Mitch Marsh, having flown home to be with his family, will rejoin the squad in Mumbai by Monday.
The wicket of Jonny Bairstow to the very first ball of the second innings gave Australia's chances a significant boost, with the opener caught down the leg side as he looked to clip Mitchell Starc’s wayward first ball away.
Mitchell Starc strangled Jonny Bairstow down the leg side off the very first ball.
Joe Root and Dawid Malan looked to rebuild through the first powerplay. But Root’s run of low scores continued as a fine edge accounted for England’s number three on review to leave the team 19/2 and in big trouble.
Stokes and Malan ensured the game would at least go deep with a solid partnership worth 84 runs.
But the opener fell shortly after reaching his half-century, holing out to Pat Cummins to depart for 50 from 64 deliveries.
Australia struck at regular intervals to hurt the England chase.
And Jos Buttler's disappointing tournament continued as he scored just one run before falling to Adam Zampa.
Not for the first time it was Ben Stokes who held the key for England, reaching his half-century in style with a six and helping England accelerate as the run rate began to climb, putting on a decent partnership with Moeen Ali.
Ben Stokes was the lynchpin of England's chase against Australia.
But Stokes fell to Adam Zampa, letting out a howling "no!" as he swept a catch to Marcus Stoinis to swing the match momentum firmly in Australia’s favour.
And Liam Livingstone’s dreadful run of form continued as he departed for just two runs, making rare clean contact but brilliantly caught by substitute fielder Sean Abbot off Cummins.
With the run rate climbing to close to ten an over, Moeen had to go big. But Australia set the trap and it did the job, with David Warner taking the catch in the deep off Adam Zampa to send the last recognised England batter back to the hutch for 42.
Adam Zampa took an absolute stunner in Ahmedabad.
Moeen’s departure ended England’s realistic hopes, and, after a brief flurry from David Willey (14), Chris Woakes (32) and Adil Rashid (20), Australia wrapped up the win with 33 runs to spare.
Earlier, England fielded first and bowled nicely after captain Jos Buttler won the toss in their clash with Australia in Ahmedabad.
Innings highlights of the England-Australia clash at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023. Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid starred with the ball for England, while Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, and Cameron Green shined for Australia.
Chris Woakes struck early, removing the dangerous Travis Head (11) in his very first over.
Head's partner, David Warner, looked to keep up the attack from the other end, but Woakes accounted for him as well in the sixth over to leave Australia at 38/2.
Chris Woakes accounted for Australia openers early in the innings.
Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne were watchful thereafter, bedding in during a period of accumulation that yielded a 75-run partnership from 96 balls.
But Australia failed to build on that platform, with Adil Rashid coming into the attack to take two quick wickets.
First the spinner accounted for Smith (44) with a miscue to backward point, before Inglis fell with a clip to the same area – with both catches taken by Moeen Ali.
Adil Rashid turned the game around with his leg-spin.
Australia again looked to rebuild after the double strike, with Labuschagne joined by Cameron Green out in the middle and challenged by a high-speed barrage from Mark Wood.
Labuschagne eventually succumbed to the paceman, trapped lbw for 71 from 83 balls, with the decision upheld on review, much to the batter’s dissatisfaction.
Marnus Labuschagne hits seven fours on the way to his 71.
Green’s frenetic start to his innings looked far from secure, but he survived a tricky stretch to put together another helpful partnership with Marcus Stoinis to take the total beyond 200.
Australia's Cameron Green nearly gave away his wicket while also losing his bat, but England missed the chance despite four fielders converging in on the catch.
Just as Australia looked to launch, so a wicket fell again, with Green swiping across the line and being cleaned up by the excellent David Willey for 47 from 52 balls.
And Australia struggled to accelerate towards the close. Liam Livingstone came back in the attack as a match-up option and was smashed for ten runs off the first three balls of his crucial over.
But a brilliant catch by Jonny Bairstow accounted for Stoinis (35) to halt that momentum, and Wood removed captain Cummins (10) as the wickets continued to fall.
An extraordinary cricketing sequence was witnessed in the 44th over.
Five wickets fell in total during the final powerplay, as England bowled Australia out with three balls of the final over still remaining.
A fortuitous but helpful contribution from Adam Zampa came to an end when he was caught behind off Woakes for 29, and Mitchell Starc was the final wicket to fall two deliveries later when he was caught by Moeen in the circle.
Woakes finished with 4/54 from his 9.3 overs, with Rashid’s 2/38 from ten the most economical figures.
Australia added only 66 runs in the last 10 overs while losing their remaining five wickets.
But, for the third time in succession, England’s batters failed to back up the bowlers’ fine work, sliding to yet another disappointing defeat to stay rooted to the foot of the standings.
**England:**Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (c), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
**Australia:**David Warner, Travis Head, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Cameron Green, Marcus Stonis, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.