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Opinion
Just when Australia needed a big performance and a sizeable victory margin over Afghanistan, they were flatter than the batting surface at the Adelaide Oval.
And unfortunately that’s been the case the entire T20 World Cup for the defending champions.
We needed a bit of AC-DC energy, some Highway to Hell action, but what was served up was more like Little River Band, mid tempo, nothing to get too excited about.
And now we’re relying on Sri Lanka beating England to get into the semis. There’s still a faint glimmer of hope but the Aussies shouldn’t be relying on other results.
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Last year’s World Cup win in the UAE was a bit of a surprise and it was a bloody good win.
(Photo by Sarah Reed/Getty Images)
This time around everything was set up for Australia to at least make the semis, being on home soil and having all their big guns available.
I can’t understand why Mitchell Starc was dropped for the final group game. They’ve been using him in the middle overs and I was saying he should have been brought back up to open with the new ball and he’s been left out altogether.
It was a bewildering decision. I thought he was the one who could have ripped open the Afghans’ top order. There was a bit of swing in the air and he could have exploited that. I know he went for a few runs after getting a couple of wickets early against Ireland but without him, the attack seemed to lack that X-factor that he brings.
Pat Cummins has been opening but he’s had an average tournament and he’s pretty limited where he bowls – he doesn’t need to open and he’s not at his best at the death so he has to bowl in the middle overs.
The batting looked like it was going to explode to a big score. David Warner was getting off to a flyer and then he got it wrong with his switch hit. It was the best he’d looked all World Cup but his execution was astray on that one.
It was a similar situation with Mitch Marsh, he was out for 45 just when it looked like he was going to grab the game by the scruff of the neck.
Cameron Green spills a catch in the outfield against Afghanistan. (Photo by Mark Brake-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis did well to get the total up to 168 but you just thought they’d left a few runs on the table – a score of 180 to 190 looked on the cards but the Afghans stuck to their task and stemmed the bleeding with some clever and committed bowling.
It was a similar situation when they batted. We needed to keep them below 106 and when they lost 4-4 through the middle overs it looked like the Aussies might get them out under that total but little Rashid Khan was magnificent.
Again it was Afghanistan who looked like they had everything to play for and not Australia even though we were the ones who had a semi-final spot on the line.
With the amount of T20 cricket that the developing nations are playing, it’s no longer the case that you can look at the schedule and think you’ve got an automatic easy win when you come up against a team like Afghanistan or Ireland.
It’s starting to show that they’re no longer easybeats. They’re dictating who makes the semis and it won’t be too long before they’re making the final four themselves.
Australia’s fielding was a bit hit and miss – there was a high-quality run-out from Glenn Maxwell but Cameron Green dropped one in the outfield.
It’s been that kind of tournament. There haven’t been enough high five moments from the Australians. There’s been a few highlights but we’ve just been waiting for someone to smash a quickfire 70 or take a few wickets to really run through a team but it hasn’t really happened.
I wouldn’t say they don’t deserve to be in the semis because if England don’t beat Sri Lanka then they haven’t done enough to get in the final four.
T20 cricket is such a fickle beast that if Australia can squeeze in somehow then you never know what could happen in the semis next week.
I’m hoping they’re getting one more chance but it’s unlikely but we wouldn’t have thought Ireland would have beaten England so while there’s life, there’s hope.