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Michael Clarke believes a woeful batting collapse in Auckland proved a timely “kick up the backside” for the World Cup favourites.
Australia were rolled for an embarrassing 151 against New Zealand in the pool stage.
Their collapse of 8-26 in nine overs set a new low for the country’s worst eight-wicket collapse in an ODI.
Mitchell Starc bowled magnificently, but there was no papering over the cracks after the one-wicket defeat.
“Horrendous,” Clarke said on February 28, when asked about his side’s struggles at Eden Park.
Clarke was more upbeat after his team downed India with ease in their semi-final, setting the stage for another trans-Tasman showdown in Sunday’s final.
“New Zealand will take confidence that they’ve beaten us in the tournament, but I believe that was the turning point in this tournament for the Australian team,” Clarke said.
“That gave us a bit of a kick up the backside.
“We got a good look at a very good team that was playing at the top of their game, certainly with the ball.”
Clarke noted his side’s attitude had been “exceptional” since the loss.
“You’ve seen that in our results … we’ve been improving every single game,” he said.
“That’ll hold us in really good stead for Sunday.”
Australia’s batting has been near-faultless over the past month, with totals of 6-417, 9-376 and 7-328 the highlights of a reshuffled order that features Steve Smith at first drop.
Clarke suggested there was “no need to talk about” the collapse in the next few days.
“We’ve certainly improved in that area,” he said.
“We’ll talk about the New Zealand team once again … we’ll study them and we’ve been watching just about every game (they have played since).
“We know their strengths, we know their weaknesses and we know they’re at the top of their game.”
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