‘Too predictable’: Australia’s weakened case for the defence

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‘Too predictable’: Australia’s weakened case for the defence

By Daniel Brettig

Twenty20 world champions or not, Australia are struggling to improve their ability to defend a target, even as captain Aaron Finch and coach Andrew McDonald take every opportunity to put their players in that scenario.

In successive T20 series against Sri Lanka, the Australians have opted to bat first upon winning the toss in a dead rubber final game, after employing the cup-winning field-first model in previous matches.

Dasun Shanaka’s victory jig provided a reminder of Australia’s T20 weak point.

Dasun Shanaka’s victory jig provided a reminder of Australia’s T20 weak point.Credit:Getty Images

Both in Melbourne in February and in Kandy on Saturday night, when the hosts (6-177) chased down Australia’s total (5-176 from 20 overs) with one delivery to spare, the chance to bat second enabled the Sri Lankans to regain some pride in front of raucous crowds by putting the Australians under pressure. On both occasions, the bowling of Kane and Jhye Richardson was exploited.

McDonald and Finch are keenly aware of the need to keep placing Australia’s death bowlers in positions where they have to defend runs on the board. Even with Josh Hazlewood also in harness, they were unable to contain a rampant Dasun Shanaka. In fact, across the eight games at home and away, only once did Australia bat first and win outright.

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“The reviews we had last night with individuals were that if you’d had your time again you would have taken some different options,” McDonald said from Kandy.

“We felt we got a little bit one-dimensional and a little bit too predictable, and went away from what made us really good in the first two games, albeit we weren’t defending a total in those games.

“We feel as though that pressure, or perceived pressure, took us away at times from what made us really good. So it’s about committing to your strengths. For last night you could argue that for 34 overs of that match we were playing some really good cricket, and we’ve got some personnel getting exposed to situations which is positive with a couple of guys out injured.

“When you get put under that type of pressure, sometimes your error rates go up. Full credit, an innings of that quality deserves the result we’ve got, and it was a great game, the crowd was amazing and unfortunately we were on the wrong side of that. So plenty of opportunities to learn.”

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Come the World Cup on home soil, it will likely be Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins in the spots occupied by the two Richardsons. But recent injuries and workload management have ensured Australia’s assessment of wider options will continue during the ODI series to follow.

Starc (cut finger) will likely remain on the injured list for the first two games, Sean Abbott has gone home with a broken finger, Mitch Marsh is recovering from a calf strain, and Cameron Green is still a week away from bowling – he won’t bowl until the squad returns to Colombo for the final three games.

Marcus Stoinis, who bowled economically and well in his own return to the crease, conceded there had been some mental waywardness about how Australia failed to close out the final T20.

“I hate losing and I think I speak for everyone in the room when I say that we hate losing,” he said.

“But that was a brilliant innings, it was great for the crowd and it is good for Sri Lankan cricket.

“Maybe we got a little bit ahead of the game and ahead of ourselves there for a second. But [17] overs went really well and that’s what happens in T20 cricket. Someone plays one of the best innings they’ll play for their career, and hats off.”

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