Cameron Green took a five-wicket haul and David Warner and Steve Smith starred with the bat as Australia defeated Zimbabwe by five wickets in their opening ODI in Townsville.
After Zimbabwe were sent in by Australian skipper Aaron Finch at the Riverway Stadium on Sunday, Green produced an outstanding performance to take 5-33 from nine overs as the tourists were bowled out for 200.
The allrounder removed danger-man Sikandar Raza – who had made three centuries in his past six innings – and skipper Regis Chakabva early on, and came back later to mop up the tail.
Having claimed only one wicket in his seven previous ODIs Green, named man of the match, said a lack of restriction on his overs gave him plenty of confidence heading into contest. “I think I’m in a really good place at the moment where those restrictions aren’t really there,” the 23-year-old told reporters. “[We] just had a really clear gameplan ...