CWC 2023 Update!! Australia sealed their place in the final 4 of the World Cup in a game that they had absolutely no business winning until Glenn Maxwell decided to play the greatest knock in World Cup history. This was the game against Afghanistan, for those of you, who don’t know!! It was one of the best innings, arguably in the history of ODI cricket as well, rescuing Australia from 91/7 to winning the game with 19 balls to spare.
They then went on to impressively dispatch both Bangladesh, who are rather timid. And eventually South Africa in the semis of the CWC 2023.
However, while this win did paper over the cracks in the short term, there are quite a few questions that will need to be answered by the Men In Yellow. They have not been the force that they always used to be in past iterations and their faults are there for everyone to be seen.
CWC 2023: We now take a look at the three reasons why Australia don’t look like the force they used to be and why Team India can beat them to lift their third 50-over World Cup!!
1. Lack Of A Frontline Spinner In CWC 2023
Eyebrows were raised when Australia decided to go to India with only Adam Zampa as the one recognized frontline spinner for the duration of the tournament. And while Zampa has found his mojo as the tournament has progressed, the start of the tournament was different in the sense that in those he was a pale shadow of his usual self, and while Glenn Maxwell has proved to be a useful option with the ball, you cannot rely on him to be economical, let alone think of bowling his full quota of overs in a crucial knockout game.
It is no surprise that Australia have lost games where Zampa was off-color and have won games where he has been on song. So Australia are potentially living and dying on the double edged sword that is Adam Zampa’s form in this tournament, and that can never be a sustainable option.
2. Porous Middle Order
Arguably the biggest difference in the great Australian sides of the past and this current side is the brittle and fragile nature of their middle order. There was a time when the middle order boasted the likes of Damien Martyn, Michael Bevan, Andrew Symonds, etc. It’s a stark contrast to the middle order this world cup that has time and again seen collapses of different magnitudes in this tournament.
They have not able to build any substantial pressure on the opponents more often than not which has basically added the pressure on the top order to score the bulk of the run. Even in today’s game before the Maxwell innings, there was absolutely no contribution from the middle order who all fell prey to some poor shot-making and lax running. Australia will have to somehow strengthen that middle order if they do not want a repeat of the first two games in the semis.
3. Ordinary Bowling In The Powerplay And Death-Overs
Australia have surprisingly been pretty poor in the bowling department at the start and towards the end. The lack of wickets has reflected a lot in their overall performances as a bowling unit. The likes of Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins’ are not taking enough wickets up top to ensure that they have a foothold in the early openings of the game. While Adam Zampa has been bringing them back into games with his wickets in the middle overs, the death overs are another story, with each bowler being too one dimensional in their approach to batters which end up costing then a lot of runs towards the end.
Overall these problems have seen them lose games that they eventually ended up winning, but there will come a time that the coin will fall in the opponents favor, thereby eliminating them from contention altogether. For now though, Maxwell has made sure that they are still alive and kicking in the tournament. And he will surely be a huge headache for the Indian side that will face them in the final.
