Aussie cricket stars' cheeky bromance steals the show

Best friends Adam Zampa and Marcus Stoinis have left Australian coach Justin Langer shaking his head after making the most of a stint on the big screen in Sharjah.

Australia’s simple eight-wicket win over Pakistan led to a few quiet moments in the chase, such as between the 28th and 29th overs.

Cameras focused on Zampa and Stoinis on the balcony and the young spinner spotting himself first.

It didn’t take long for him to take advantage as he put their ‘bromance’ to the test, blowing a kiss to his mate.

They were all over each other.

“Looking quite comfortable at the moment, the Australian boys,” Allan Border said in commentary, plain as a piece of paper.

Brendon Julian added: “Wouldn’t want to see too much more of that.”

Langer could only laugh from the boundary.

But the cricketers stole the show with the fans:

Under-fire batsmen bite back at critics

Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh, two Australian batsmen subject to plenty of World Cup conjecture in recent weeks, have silenced their doubters by delivering an eight-wicket ODI victory over Pakistan.

Finch (116) and Marsh (91 not out) did the heavy lifting in a 172-run stand as Australia hauled in a target of 281 in Sharjah, taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series with one over to spare.

Marsh, who was dropped for last week’s series decider in India, made a mockery of anybody who believed his World Cup hopes are over.

Finch did likewise to those questioning whether he is the man to lead Australia’s World Cup defence, excelling after Haris Sohail’s maiden ODI century lifted Pakistan to a competitive total of 5-280.

The opener was already locked in to lead Australia at the World Cup, having impressed coach Justin Langer immensely in the aftermath of Steve Smith and David Warner’s unprecedented sanctions.

But Friday’s innings was verification that Finch’s recent breakthrough knock of 93 against India was no outlier.

The Victorian brought up his first ODI ton in nine months with a towering six off fellow skipper Shoaib Malik, celebrating with a hearty hug of Marsh and a kiss of the helmet badge.

“He was brilliant tonight. He led from the front,” Marsh said.

“Absolutely (elated for him). I know how hard he’s been working in the nets and to see him get the rewards was fantastic.”

Reaching three figures was “a bit of relief” for Finch but not because of any bigger picture.

“I’d faced a lot of dot balls in the 90s and it wasn’t because I was trying to just get to a hundred,” Finch said.

“It was purely that they bowled quite well.

“Shaun Marsh played a crucial innings for the team, he took a lot of pressure off through the middle overs when I started to really struggle.”

with AAP