Butter-fingered Pakistan back in drop zone against Australia

NEW DELHI: When Usama Mir missed a straightforward catch off David Warner during the World Cup match in Bengaluru last Friday, he perpetuated Pakistan's unfortunate trend of dropping catches against Australia in Bengaluru.
Warner mishit a lofted shot from pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi in the fifth over, but the ball somehow slipped through a baffled Mir's hands at mid-on.
At that moment, Warner was only on 10 runs, but Pakistan paid dearly for the lapse as he went on to smash his 21st ODI century, marking his fifth in all World Cup matches, ultimately amassing a brilliant 163 in Australia's total of 367-9.

This incident with Warner's catch continued Pakistan's history of costly errors in crucial matches against Australia, which dates back to the 2015 World Cup.
During the quarter-final in Adelaide, Pakistan found themselves defending a modest target of 214 runs.
Australia were in a spot of bother at 83-3 when Rahat Ali grassed a simple catch off Shane Watson's miscued hook off pacer Wahab Riaz.
Watson recovered to hit 64 not out in Australia's six-wicket win on the way to lifting the World Cup for the fifth time.
Four years later in Taunton, Asif Ali dropped Aaron Finch off Riaz in the slips with the opener on 37. Finch went on to score 82 in Australia's 41-run win.
In the 2021 Twenty20 World Cup semi-final in Dubai, Pakistan's Hasan Ali dropped Matthew Wade at deep mid-wicket when Australia needed 22 off the last two overs.
(With AFP Inputs)