"They set the tone of how we want to play": Pat Cummins hails Warner and Marsh's opening partnership

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], October 20 (ANI): Following Australia's stunning 62-run win against Pakistan in the 18th match of the ODI World Cup 2023 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday, Aussie skipper Pat Cummins heaped praise on the squad and said that they need to keep up the benchmark from the last couple of games.
While speaking at the post-match presentation, the Aussie skipper said that it is always tough to play at Chinnaswamy but it was a good win.
Cummins hailed David Warner and Mitchell Marsh's solid partnership and said that the openers set the tone of the game.
"Great win. Always pretty tough playing here at Chinnaswamy but good win. Set the tone (those two - Marsh and Warner) of how we want to play our cricket. That's the thing sometimes in ODI cricket. You get one breakthrough and sometimes it's hard for the new batter. Saw Stoin coming in, hit the pitch hard and provided the breakthrough. Zampa showed his class. He's a real wicket-taker for us in the middle. Have a 3-4 day break, and need to keep up the benchmark from the last couple of games," Cummins said.
After winning the Player of the Match award, David Warner said that the team's main focus is to go out there and put in a stellar performance.
The Aussie opener also said that one has to take chances while playing on a ground like M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
"It (groin) is a little bit sore, all cramps at the moment, that's all it is. It (partnership with Marsh) was awesome, once we got the pace of the wicket, we were going to try and target their bowlers. For us to go out there and put on a performance like that is very pleasing. Committing and backing my skills, I had a good hit yesterday, it was ticking along, I was just one bit of luck away and it helps when you're hitting the ball out of the middle. Playing on a ground like this as well, you have to take those chances. Just to get out there and build a partnership with Mitch today. We spoke about trying to bat till 35 overs at least and then probably score heavily in the back end. From our perspective, there's a little bit of tinkering there we got to work on, we lost 5 or 6 wickets in the last 10. Every run is valuable, part of my DNA is to run hard between wickets, I have always done that and I'll always continue to keep doing that as long as I keep playing," David Warner said.
Coming to the match, in the first inning, Warner and Mitchel Marsh made a solid opening partnership of 259 runs. Warner scored 163 runs from 124 balls. While Marsh played a 121-run knock.
The Men in Green bowling attack had a disappointing game as they failed to take early wickets in the game and gifted plenty of runs to the Aussies.
In the second inning, Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq played a 134-run opening run partnership. Shafique scored 64 runs from 61 balls. On the other hand, Imam played a 70-run knock from 71 balls. Mohammad Rizwan tried to chase the target but was dismissed at 46 runs.
Adam Zampa led the Aussie bowling attack after he scalped four wickets in his 10-over spell. On the other hand, Pa Cummins and Marcus Stoinis scalped two wickets each.
Following today's game, Australia stands in fourth place in the ODI World Cup 2023 points table. While Pakistan holds the fifth place. (ANI)