How crucial is Alex Carey to Australia's chances at the knockouts?

Not many sides bounced out Australia’s explosive opening pair in the current World Cup as cheaply as the Kiwis did on Saturday. The Windies managed to achieve it before having bottled a golden chance to get the upper hand in the tournament.

However, a common element between the games against the Black Caps and the men from the Caribbean was that Australia found a way forward. As narrow as it might be, they cashed in on it to end up on the winning side.

One man who deserves the credit for plotting the two jailbreaks is Australian gloveman Alex Carey.

The Australian selectors had auditioned several glovemen since Adam Gilchrist’s departure from white-ball cricket. Brad Haddin had been scintillating behind the stumps but lacked the impetus provided by Gilchrist. They bumped into Peter Nevill, Matthew Wade, Tim Paine, all of whom were just as inconsistent with the bat. Finally, they decided to go ahead with this South Australian. And just like that, with his persistence the 27-year-old went from being viewed as the weak link to forming a vital cog in this Australian line-up.

(Christopher Lee-IDI/IDI via Getty Images)

In an era of swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batsmen like MS Dhoni, Jos Buttler and Quinton de Kock, Carey had to prove he belonged in those leagues. Not that he had shown it instantly, for his selection as the sole gloveman over Peter Handscomb for the mega tournament received massive backlash.

But Carey has answered his critics and put them to sleep in style, becoming the keeper-batsman that has eluded Australia in limited-overs cricket for some time now. Before clobbering the trans-Tasman rivals on Saturday at Lord’s, the South Australian had racked up some crucial cameos to hand his side a considerable advantage.

Similar to his performance against the Windies, Carey once again became crisis-proof against New Zealand. Unlike his partners at the other end in both the games, he didn’t know how to slow down, but he played his natural game, milking away boundaries by playing risk-free shots with giant returns primarily through the offside.

He has also been gifted enough on both the occasions to have sedative batsmen in Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja hold the fort from the other end while Carey bludgeons the bowlers in his way.

Moreover, the timing of Carey’s defining knock of 71 couldn’t have been more accurate. The South Australian’s brief and timely contributions prior to this had impressed former Aussie skipper Steve Waugh, so much so that he saw shades of Michael Bevan and Michael Hussey in him.

And he justified it by rescuing Australia from the depths of despair like Bevan did, apart from having as fast legs as both Bevan and Hussey to convert ones into twos and twos into threes.

Coming to the big picture, are the defending champions a well-oiled machine with no glitches? They indeed have snatched victories out of oblivion; however, are yet to stitch a complete batting performance, having to require their middle order to capitalise on the robust platform set by their openers.

As much as Maxwell’s reliance on playing a role to consolidate and to shift the gears later has backfired until now, their vice-captain deserves a promotion in the batting order for his level-headedness and a positive mindset. With the knockouts fast approaching, it couldn’t be more apparent on how Finch’s deputy is vital if Australia is slated to lift their sixth World Cup.