ST. LUCIA: It is not frequently that Australia are left to cheer for Bangladesh to get a passage into a semifinal of an ICC event. That’s what the Test and the ODI world champions had to do for the better part of Monday after being thrashed by India. Only to find that their prayers would not be enough.
It was a disappointment that didn’t seem likely in the beginning of the tournament — Australia did look one of the most balanced outfits till a point. The first dip came against Scotland in an inconsequential group game that they managed to win but come Afghanistan and India on two completely different pitches, things unravelled very fast for the Aussies.
One of the surprising aspects of the twin losses was the way the Aussies dropped catches at crucial junctures. While a couple of missed chances and a few more lapses in the outfield hurt them badly against Afghanistan. Mitchell Marsh dropping Hardik Pandya led to India adding about 15 extra runs that proved crucial in the end.
Paceman Josh Hazlewood, who bowled decently against India, tried to explain the lapses but he struggled visibly.
“I’m not sure what you could put it down to. The guys are always working as hard as ever on fielding and training. Here we probably didn’t get as many opportunities to work on it because we were always traveling and playing. But yes, it hasn’t been good enough for last few games in particular,” Hazlewood said.
The fact that games came back-to-back and just a small drop in intensity over 36 hours saw Australia packing their bags and going home. Yet Hazlewood didn’t want to blame it on this format saying it has got be cut-throat at this level.
“It’s not sudden death straight off but even South Africa had they lost one game after winning six in a row could have been out; that’s T20. You’ve got to be on your game every day that you turn up. So yes, it’s disappointing,” the pacer added.
The third factor that hurt Australia in both the games was their inability to chase. It down at the back-end despite reaching positions of some comfort. While against Afghanistan they needed 41 runs off six overs with five wickets in hand, in the game against India. The asking rate was in the vicinity of 10 in the last 10 with only two wickets down.
Travis Head, who was trying his best to keep Australia alive on Monday. Seemed to acknowledge that they lost the match-ups between overs 14-17.
“They have some good bowlers; they did well and yes. We couldn’t capitalize either,” Head said adding that “the emotions are still pretty raw”.
That will take a while for a team that is accustomed to winning most of the time.
