CWC 2023: Embattled Australia takes on stuttering Sri Lanka
The Aussies desperately need to get their act together if they want to keep their fate in their own hands.
Pat Cummins; Chamika Karunaratne (right) and Maheesh Theekshana attend a practice session.
LUCKNOW: Its house in complete disarray after consecutive defeats, Australia will look to wake up from its slumber and return to winning ways against an equally stuttering Sri Lanka in the World Cup here on Monday.
Both teams are in search of their maiden win in the tournament. While Australia suffered humiliating losses against India and South Africa, Sri Lanka faltered against the Proteas and Pakistan. Australia has looked like a pale shadow of its dominant self in this tournament.
The five-time champion sits tenth in the 10-team league table owing to its horrendous Net Run Rate (-1.846), while the Lankans are 8th on the table with a NRR of -1.161.
The Aussies desperately need to get their act together if they want to keep their fate in their own hands.
But it is easier said than done. Australia has lost seven of its last eight ODIs comprehensively.
During this tournament, it has performed poorly in all three departments of the game. The Men from Down Under have been uncharacteristically sloppy in the field. The Australians have dropped a whopping six catches in two games -- the most by any team so far in this edition of the World Cup.
Its bowling attack has also looked toothless. It has failed miserably with the bat, suffering mini-collapses, and is yet to cross 200 runs. It was rocked by India’s spin bowling in the opener and then by the South African pacers.
But facing the battered and bruised Sri Lankan bowling attack could be the perfect opportunity for the Australian batters to find some form.
The Australians are also familiar with the Ekana pitch having trained in the city for close to a week and played against South Africa here. Skipper Pat Cummins had insisted earlier this week that it won’t be rotating its bowlers which means Australia will stick to its three-pronged pace attack of Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc with Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell sharing spin duties. Sri Lanka too has underperformed at the mega event so far. While its batting line-up has done reasonably well, putting up scores in excess of 320 in both the previous games, its bowling is an area of concern.
In the absence of several frontline bowlers, Sri Lanka’s relatively inexperienced bowling attack has conceded a whopping 775 runs in its first two matches. The Lankans looked on course to register their first win against Pakistan, but the inexperience of youngsters like 20-year-old Matheesha Pathirana came to the fore as the former champion couldn’t stop leaking runs that resulted in a World Cup record run chase.