Australia’s highly-rated bowling attack was patchy in their World Cup opener last night against a plucky Afghanistan line-up before their batsmen turned it on.
The Australian bowlers had two periods where they were impressive and made inroads but also a pair of phases where they lost their way, both in regards to strategy and execution.
It was the kind of laboured effort best purged early in the tournament and not again repeated. Against a powerful batting unit like England or India, the Aussies would have been punished for their waywardness and, at times, unwise tactics. They were fortunate Afghanistan did not have the batting line-up to make them pay, cobbling together just 207.
It wasn’t all bad for Australia though. Star quicks Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc made fine use of the new ball and had Afghanistan two down just eight balls into the innings. First Starc uprooted the off stump of cavalier opener Mohammad Shahzad with a searing full delivery. In his first ODI in seven months Starc bowled with intimidating pace in his opening spell of three overs and is showing signs of shaking off the rust accumulated during his long injury layoff.
At the other end Cummins continued his outstanding form when he had young Afghanistan opener Hazratullah Zazai caught behind with a ball that reared off a good length. The very next delivery Cummins almost found the edge of Hashmatullah Shahidi, and three balls later he caught the shoulder of Rahmat Shah’s bat with a nasty lifter.
Afghanistan were 2-5 and looked as though they may be blasted off the park by Australia’s quicks. But Shah and Shahidi steadied. The latter grafted for nearly an hour for his 18 before being beaten in the flight by Zampa and stumped.
It was a flatter delivery which soon earned Zampa his second breakthrough when Shah (43) fed a catch to Steve Smith at short cover. After working hard to rebuild their innings Afghanistan were suddenly at risk of collapsing when, in the next over, Smith completed a brilliant run out of Mohammad Nabi to leave the underdogs stumbling at 5-77.
Rather than succumbing to this pressure, the Afghans fought back. Najibullah Zadran (51 from 49 balls) and Gulbadin Naib (31 from 33 balls) played with skill and aggression as they rattled the Aussies with a sprightly stand of 83 from just 77 balls.
Each of Australia’s five bowlers received some tap during this period – their quicks began bowling too short and Adam Zampa was smashed for 22 in an over, including four consecutive boundaries by Zadran. Although Zampa ended up with three wickets, it was not a great outing for the wrist spinner, who bled 60 runs from eight overs against the weakest batting line-up in this tournament.
Third seamer Nathan Coulter-Nile (0-36 from eight overs) also had a fairly ordinary match. He was the least threatening of all the Aussie bowlers and has now taken just three wickets at 55 in his last four outings for Australia. The West Australian may now come under pressure from fellow sandgroper Jason Behrendorff.
It was only a sequence of needlessly adventurous strokes by the Afghan middle-to-lower order that stopped them from posting a total of 250-plus. Zampa lost his rhythm and Australia’s quicks overdid the short balls as the innings wore on.
(AAP Image/Paul Miller)
A late burst from Rashid Khan (27 from 11 balls) included an over from Stoinis that went for 21. On a good batting pitch, Afghanistan looked at least 100 runs short of par and about 50-60 runs short of a total that may have allowed them to turn the screws on Australia.
The air was rapidly let out of the contest when Aaron Finch laid into Afghan spin prodigy Mujeeb Ur Rahman. After being handed the new ball the youngster went for 24 from his first two overs and Australia’s openers cruised from there. There was plenty to like about Afghanistan’s performance, however.
If their batsmen can improve their shot selection they may cause an upset or two in this World Cup. Australia, meanwhile, will need to improve with the ball in their next match against the ballistic batting unit of the West Indies.
Asthon
Roar Rookie
What Chris said. 6 an over with 15 overs to spare is hardly turtle paced. I think the complainers will have some reason to whinge. It was solid and comprehensive win with the best 11 players playing. Move on.
maccaa62
Roar Rookie
Touche'
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
You were spot on Macca, Afghanistan definitely have a better batting lineup than Pakistan.
JamesH
Roar Guru
I think Ronan's description of him being hot and cold is a fair one. What he generally does well though is take key wickets. Even in that hammering he took from England he deceived and dismissed Buttler, which offset the runs he bled and swung the match back Australia's way. Australia has selected an otherwise fairly 'safe' squad so it's not a bad idea to take a punt on NCN in most games. His record says that the rewards will outweigh the risk.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
It all depends, if other bowlers can be keeping it tight, but one guy gets 3/70 and those three wickets include some of the key batsmen, effectively, buying a wicket, took a few boundaries but eventually got the wicket that then allowed the other bowlers to turn the screws on the lesser batsmen, then it can be vital. But you need to know the context to know how valuable those two are. It could be the 0/40 was the bowler who put on the pressure that brought about the wickets at the other end.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I regularly worry about NCN. He gets collared a lot more than most. I think his position isn't really at threat unless they decide to play Lyon and Zampa together in some more spin-friendly conditions because they also like his lower order hitting, and the backup pacemen in the Aussie squad both significantly deplete tail-end batting if they replace NCN.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
They were still going at six runs an over and got the runs within 35 overs.
vineet kumar
Roar Rookie
In my opinion, playing Jason Behrendorff in place of Nathan Coulter-Nile would not make any difference. Behrendorff looks ordinary after 6-8 overs, and Aussies must not change their intimidating new ball combination. Kane Richardson would be more than handy in the later stage, he would be an ideal partner for Starc in death overs. You simply can not trust Stoinis to deliver good death-over bowling against quality batting sides like India, England, New-Zealand, West Indies. And that would also allow Cummins to bowl his quota in first 40 overs (the phase where he looks more intimidating). My XI for the next game- Warner Finch Khawaja Smith Stoinis Maxwell Carey Starc Cummins Richardson Zampa
maccaa62
Roar Rookie
Yes. A bit like South African Statistics up against Bangladesh statistics.
James
Guest
If you are Australia and worried about Afghanistan then that is really concerning. Net run rate could be massive and so when playing against the lowest ranked team should really feast instead of looking to just stay in.
Ouch
Roar Rookie
Kent Brockman; Mr. Simpson, how do you respond to the charge that petty vandalism such as graffiti is down 80%, while heavy sack beatings are up a shocking 900%? Homer: Oh people can come up with statistics to prove anything Kent. Forfty percent of all people know that.
JamesH
Roar Guru
Lyon is generally a little more economical but he doesn't take wickets. And if he doesn't take wickets then Gayle and co are going to end up scoring off him or someone else anyway. The best way to beat WI batsmen is to get them out. Zampa has a good wrong-un, he just needs to use it more frequently against lefties.
ForwardsWinMatches
Guest
I hope you’re right.
JamesH
Roar Guru
Lyon and O'Keefe ahead of Zampa in ODIs??? Wow. None of the five guys you mentioned would be a better option than Zampa.
JamesH
Roar Guru
I think it very much depends on the rest of the bowling attack. If you have other natural wicket takers then 0-40 is a better return. If your other middle-innings bowlers lack penetration though then the three wickets become more important.
JamesH
Roar Guru
You're right on Zampa. He didn't bowl his best but England didn't even play Adil Rashid in their last match at that venue. It's a spinners' graveyard, as evidenced by the pasting Mujeeb and Rashid copped. I wouldn't be too worried about NCN. He was Australia's second most economical bowler and was unlucky not to dismiss Rahmat (Afghanistan's most solid batsman) after beating his outside edge three balls in a row. He's still our best death bowler too, which will be hugely valuable when we play a side that actually makes it into the final 10 overs.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Good start
ForwardsWinMatches
Guest
Some of them....and the ones over the last 3 years...a bigger sample size.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
"That’s just statistics." I hadn't thought about it like that. You're right, stats are meaningless, cricket matches are won via intangibles not by making runs or taking wickets.
JD St George
Roar Pro
Shahzad is a gun batter that can go ballistic on his day. Not many people can keep out a Mitch Starc inswinging yorker.