MELBOURNE : Australia captain Michael Clarke scored 64 on his return to the one-day team after opening the batting against United Arab Emirates in their World Cup warmup match in Melbourne today.
Clarke, coming back after a long lay-off from hamstring surgery, won the toss and sent himself in to bat with Aaron Finch, replacing regular opener David Warner who was rested for the match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The 33-year-old Clarke was tentative facing the UAE’s fast bowlers in the opening overs and survived a number of false shots before gradually getting his eye in on a sweltering day.
Running comfortably between the wickets, the right-hander appeared in little danger of missing his deadline imposed by selectors to be fully fit for the co-hosts’ second group match against Bangladesh on February 21.
After finding his range, Clarke lifted the tempo and pranced down the wicket to slog his seventh four over mid-on to bring up his 50 from 46 balls.
He and Finch added 123 for the first wicket before Finch was caught slogging spinner Nasir Aziz to Shaiman Anwar at long on.
Clarke finished his 62-ball innings after 92 minutes, slogging Aziz to the same fielder in a carbon copy of Finch’s dismissal.
Australia’s match against the Middle Eastern minnows is their last warm-up before their World Cup opener against England at the same ground on Saturday. (AGENCIES)
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel