Finch, Marsh star in big Australia win

The World Cup marked its return to Australia and New Zealand after a gap of 23 years and both sides feasted on their respective oppositions to get their campaign off to a rollicking start. Shortly after New Zealand registered an emphatic win over Sri Lanka at Christchurch, Australia inflicred a 111-run hammering on England in the second Pool A match of the ICC World Cup 2015 at Melbourne. Over the course of 100 overs, the match witnessed many firsts. Steven Finn became the first English bowler to register a World Cup hat-trick whereas Mitchell Marsh recorded his first five-wicket haul. However, all that was pale in comparison to Aaron Finch's sixth ODI century, which fetched him the distinction of becoming the fourth Australian cricketer after David Boon, Geoff Marsh and Andrew Symonds to score a century on World Cup debut. Finch's 135 powered Australia to 342/9, after which Marsh's 5/51 shot England out for England 231 as a capacity crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, touching almost 100,000, witnessed a real treat. A lot depended on the kind of start the English batsmen provided, and once the top four were removed for less than 70, there wasn't much scope of staging a comeback. James Taylor (98) staged a lone battle with Chris Woakes (37), but England's collective failure with the bat once again proved to be their Achilles heel. Mitchell Starc provided Australia with an early breakthrough with the wicket of Moeen Ali in the fifth over. Ali, who had hit Josh Hazlewood for two boundaries in the previous over, miscued back-of-a length delivery from Starc to find Australian skipper George Bailey at mid on. Ian Bell looked good from the onset and played his trademark cover-drives. But regular wickets at the other end prevented England from getting even a single partnership going barring the seventh-wicket stand of Woakes and Taylor. Bell and Gary Ballance took England to 49 before Marsh's introduction changed the course of the England innings. In his first spell comprising four overs, he removed Ballance, Bell and Joe Root, and then came back to dismiss England skipper Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler to finish with a maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs. The English batsmen fell victim to some poor shot selection and it was evident the way their top order got out. While Ballance was out chipping to Finch at short-midwicket, Bell and Root mistimed deliveries which were short of length. Taylor was the only batsman who showed some resistance. His fifty off 61 balls gave England some much-needed stability during the middle overs. Taylor and Woakes took England past 150 without suffering further casualties and although their brave effort accounted for some entertaining strokeplay, it wasn't enough to get England over the line. Woakes' dismissal was followed by two quick wickets of Stuart Broad and Finn and had it not been for Taylor holding the fort, the margin of loss could have been more embarrassing. The 25-year-old marched towards his maiden century but agonisingly missed out on the landmark by two runs. The end of the game was surrounded by controversy though. Hazlewood appealed for a leg-before against Taylor, which was given in favour of the bowler. However, Taylor and Anderson ran with the former reviewing the decision after the call. According to the rules, once the umpire makes his decision, whatever happens from there on doesn't matter. The replay showed the ball missing the leg stump but the fact that Anderson was run out at the other end signalled the end of the innings, much to Taylor's disappointment. Earlier in the day, once Morgan put Australia in, Finch along with Glenn Maxwell and Bailey, who shrugged off his poor from with a 69-ball 55, took the skin off the England bowling attack and racked up 105 runs in the final 10 overs. The first 15 overs witnessed a see-saw battle between the two sides. England's initial sloppy fielding and wayward bowling allowed Finch and David Warner to race to 57 inside eight over, after which Broad and Woakes hit back with three quick wickets. The wickets of Warner and Steven Smith were always going to be big, considering the freakish form they've been in of late. But England, despite sending both of them back inside three overs, ended up conceding their highest total to Australia. Three wickets in three overs was the perfect platform required for England to cash in, but the resolute batting pair of Finch and Bailey thwarted the opposition. They stemmed the run flow but once Finch got to his fifty, the scoring rate went up. Finch reached the three-figure mark off 102 deliveries. By the time Finch and Bailey's 146-run association ended, the side had already crossed 200 with 12 overs to go. Maxwell found perfect partners in Marsh and Brad Haddin, with whom he added 53 and 61 runs towards the fag end of the innings. Maxwell, coming off a rampaging century against India in the warm-up, began where he had left off in Adelaide. He reeled off 33 runs off 12 balls and registered his fifty off 30 balls. In the final over, Finn sent back Haddin, Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson for a hat-trick, making him the first English bowler to achieve the feat in a World Cup. Brief Scores: Australia 342/9 (Aaron Finch 135, Glenn Maxwell 66; Steven Finn 5/71) beat England (James Taylor 98, Chris Woakes 37; Mitchell Marsh 5/51) by 111 runs.