The Twenty20 World Cup started with much optimism for Australia, who were installed as competition favourites, and ended with a whimper two weeks later as the hosts failed to reach the semi-finals. We take a look at five key areas in which Australia stumbled…
Net result: No semi-finals
Ultimately, after finishing the Super 12 phase of the tournament locked on seven points with New Zealand and England in group one, net run rate kept Australia out of the top two and cost them a semi-final berth in their home World Cup. And the origins of the hosts’ demise can be traced all the way back to the opening game at the SCG, when the Black Caps demolished them by 83 runs. That night, the Aussies’ net run rate plunged to -4.450, meaning Aaron Finch’s men needed every chance they could get to restore it in the final four games. But with poor weather becoming a factor in the competition, and their game against England being washed out, the hosts were always up against it in their bid to get their net run rate back to a competitive and respectable level. In the end, they finished on -0.173, well off England’s qualifying 0.473.
Six, but not Maxwell’s favourite kind
Six. That’s where the explosive Glenn Maxwell came in to bat for Australia’s final group game against lightweights Afghanistan with everything to play for. It was just one of a raft of curious decisions from the Australian camp, not least of which was their omission of strike bowler Mitchell Starc for such an important game. Instead, they picked Kane Richardson, who hadn’t previously featured in the tournament and got spanked for 12 an over. Maxwell had batted at No.4 in each game prior to the Adelaide contest, yet in the one game when they needed him to fire the most, as they attempted to boost their net run rate considerably in the hopes of challenging England’s rate, they had to wait until the 11th over, rather than the sixth, for Maxwell to enter the fray. And enter he did, smashing 54 not out off 32 balls – a century wouldn’t have been out of the question if he kept his customary spot in the batting order. Former Australian batsman Mark Waugh was left dumbfounded by it. “We were 2-50 off five overs, why would you not send Glenn Maxwell into the crease? Why would you bat him at six when you need to make a big score?” Waugh told RSN. “We had to make 200 or 220, and the only way to do that was to get Maxwell in earlier. I just think, tactically, we were off.”
Willow minnows
Of the batsmen that have played a minimum of three innings in the tournament so far, only two Australians featured in the top 15 for strike rate – Maxwell (161.64) and Marcus Stoinis (161.53) who are 11th and 12th respectively. Yes, that means there were no local players in the top 10. And as far total runs are concerned, Stoinis (126) was the only Aussie to feature in the top 20, and by the skin of his teeth. Maxwell (118) was the next-best at 29th. Naturally, that stat gets slightly skewed by players from the qualifying nations, who played extra games before the Super 12 stage, but when you look at the representation of Australia’s fellow top-eight teams, it’s still a disappointing performance. After all, star Indian pair Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav come in at first and third respectively, while New Zealand and Bangladesh also have two batsmen each in the top 20. It’s a far cry from last year’s tournament when Australia had three players in the top 24 – David Warner, Mitch Marsh and Aaron Finch.
One is the loneliest number
And it doesn’t make for much better reading from an Australian bowling perspective either. Of the bowlers who have bowled a minimum of 10 overs at the tournament so far, just one Australian features in the top 30 for economy rate – Adam Zampa, who went at 6.66 per over, which is a fitting number given the Aussies had a devil of a time hosting the marquee Twenty20 event. And as far as wicket-takers go, Australia has no representation in the top 30 – Zampa and Josh Hazlewood finished equal 35th with just five scalps apiece. Again, despite the qualifying nations getting in an extra three games, New Zealand have five bowlers in the top 34, while India and Pakistan have four apiece – all three teams happen to be semi-finalists as well. Never mind the top 30, last year Australia had three of the top 13 wicket-takers in Zampa and Hazlewood, who were both in the top five, as well as Starc. Two key planks of the Australian attack – Starc and Pat Cummins – really struggled this time around, taking just six poles between them for a combined 234 runs at 39.00 and an economy rate of 8.36.
Summing up the struggles
And while it certainly wasn’t all Warner’s fault, Australia’s campaign was perhaps best summed up by his World Cup. After being crowned player of the tournament last year, Warner failed badly to back up his heroics in the UAE, scoring just 44 runs at a paltry strike rate of 107.31 and an average of just 11.00. Twelve months is a long time in Twenty20 cricket, especially when you consider last year Warner pillaged 289 runs, including three 50s, at a swashbuckling strike rate of 146.70 and an average of 48.16. But he certainly had his mates in the batting order in the 2022 edition, with struggling captain Finch only looking comfortable against minnows Ireland, while reigning player of the final Marsh and Matthew Wade also failed to fire. Even Stoinis and Maxwell struggled to have a huge impact outside of their half-centuries against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan respectively. Ultimately, the hosts simply struggled for consistency with both bat and ball for the duration of the competition.
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