After dealing with its heaviest World Cup defeat earlier this week in opposition to South Africa, Australia captain Pat Cummins admitted the temper within the camp was ‘flat’ however that his crew is able to flip it round when it takes on Sri Lanka on the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium right here on Monday.
“Everyone is after the last game was a little bit flat, but the last couple of days have been really good. Everyone has rolled up their sleeves and want to try and get to work and make amends. So, the mood in the camp has been fantastic. Everyone’s great. Everyone’s desperate to turn it around,” he stated on match eve.
Interestingly, the one two video games the Aussies misplaced throughout their march to the semifinals on the World Cup in 2019 have been in opposition to India and South Africa, the identical two sides they’ve tasted defeat in opposition to of their first two video games this time round.
Monkey off the again
Since the final World Cup, Australia has confronted India and South Africa in 13 and 9 ODIs, respectively, and has received simply seven in opposition to every. With two of its hardest opponents behind them, the skipper feels the Australians will probably be assured of taking over groups they’ve been comparatively extra profitable in opposition to.
“Looking back at 2019, India and South Africa were the two teams that we lost to in the round games there. I think in the last year, they’re kind of the two teams that we’ve had the most trouble against. So, the opportunity now is we’ve got some teams we haven’t played for a while that we’ve had a lot of success against,” Cummins stated.
But situations are one thing the five-time champion must take care of if it hopes to progress within the match. The middle-order collapsed in opposition to each India and South Africa on contrasting pitches whereas the spinners lacked penetration within the middle-overs on each events.
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Conditions apply
Cummins admits that given the vastness of the nation, adapting to the situations is one thing that the crew continues to be studying and that ODI cricket, since it’s performed over day and night time, is a completely completely different ball sport in comparison with T20s, a format the Australians are nicely acquainted with in Indian situations.
“ODI cricket, compared to T20 cricket, is played half in daylight and half at night. It is a bit different than T20 cricket. I find these wickets sometimes hard to read as well. Sometimes they look terrible and play beautifully and sometimes they look flat and end up spinning. It is tough and you got to adapt on the fly sometimes.,” he stated.
Moreover, Australia has received two tosses out of two to this point within the match, with Cummins’ determination to bat in opposition to India and bowl in opposition to South Africa backfiring.
Some positives
However, a constructive the captain takes from the defeat in opposition to the Proteas is the way in which the bowlers tailored to the situations and bowled to the scale of the bottom on the dying to concede solely 48 runs and decide 4 wickets within the final seven overs.
This was a major achievement for a facet that boasts of the worst economic system price within the dying overs in ODIs this 12 months, conceding a whopping 8.74 runs an over within the final 10.
“I thought we bowled really well at the end of the innings… The cutters seemed to work quite well last game even just being a slightly bigger field here, that normally helps the cutters into the wicket a little bit,” Cummins stated whereas including that the crew was seeking to comply with that blueprint going forward.
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Luxury or lack of function readability?
Australia’s abundance of all-rounders in its line-up held promise however hasn’t translated into success to this point.
Glenn Maxwell has stood out as a spinner, overshadowing leggie Adam Zampa, however has been discovered wanting with the bat. Similarly, Cameron Green, Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis have did not dwell as much as their billing as power-hitters and haven’t been trusted a lot with the ball.
While this will come throughout as a scarcity of function readability in a crew that has pivoted from its conventional reliance on specialists, Cummins phrases it a ‘luxury’ to have them in his ranks.
“I think the good thing and the luxury we have with the all-rounders is they all make it into the team on the back of their primary skill, which for most of them is batting. And it’s fortunate we’ve got guys like Stoinis and Maxwell and Marsh that can provide overs and do it really well,” he stated.
After Australia misplaced its first two World Cup matches for the primary time since 1992, Cummins says he doesn’t know what’s implied when his facet is accused of not taking part in the ‘Australian’ approach however is conscious {that a} crew which was No. 1 within the format simply final month doesn’t have to look too far again to give you its finest efficiency.
Source web site: sportstar.thehindu.com
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