Head’s return in focus as Australia face Dutch challenge

Four matches, two wins, and two losses - Australia haven’t been entirely convincing in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, as we have come to associate with various Australian teams of the past. But no way, they are a laggard who could be taken lightly, not least when they are going to have one of their most impressive batters back in the playing XI in Delhi tomorrow.

On one hand, while the likes of Pakistan and England have found the proceedings hard to go by, Australia have a brilliant chance to put one past the Netherlands and secure their position in the top four. They could do that because, unlike Pakistan and England, Australia have been disciplined in their approach, not letting extraneous factors dictate control when they have a chance to do that by themselves.

Coach Andrew McDonald has already made it clear that the five-time World champions wouldn’t want to rest any of their players - for they know the Netherlands wouldn’t just be an easy nut to crack. The Dutchmen have assurance beyond their batting strength, and their bowlers have made the lives of South African and Pakistan batters difficult brick by brick in the tournament already. Could they replicate it once again against Australia? 

There wouldn’t be a better World Cup story.

Things to watch out for 

The return of Travis Head

Travis Head sustained a fracture to his left hand in the fourth ODI against South Africa after getting hit flush on his arm by a rising delivery from Gerald Coetzee and has been sitting out of the XI since then. Luckily for Australia, he is fit to go now and may return to the squad for the Netherlands encounter. 

Head’s importance to the Australian set-up can’t be overstated. Since 2020 in ODIs, Head is averaging 60.84 and has struck at 119.84. In this period, he and David Warner have averaged 93.4 as an opening pair (strike rate of 127). That is as good as any in the cricketing world. Even though his absence was masked by Mitchell Marsh, who was promoted to the top of the order, Head’s return will strengthen the overall batting order at the cost of Marnus Labuschagne. 

Could the openers step up?

This has been the tournament of openers. From the likes of David Warner to Quinton de Kock, from Rohit Sharma to Mitchell Marsh, from Abdullah Shafique to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, openers have had a party of their own. But the same can’t be said for the Dutchmen.

In Vikramjit Singh and Max O’Dowd, the Netherlands have two batters who have found it hard to get going. They have an opening average of 19.5 in this World Cup, which is the lowest among all teams. They also have a poor strike rate of 60, and their best opening stand in this tournament is just 28 runs.

They have been lucky that their lower middle order have scored around 36% of runs for their team, which is the second-highest percentage among all teams in the competition. Over-reliance on them can prove costly as they go along, and a team like Australia wouldn’t mind exploiting that when the chance arrives.

Ground Details

The Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi has hosted three games in the ongoing World Cup, with batting first teams winning two games and the chasing side winning one. 

If we consider all ODIs this venue has hosted to date, it is clear that teams both batting first and second have won an equal number of matches, but the captains have opted to bowl first on most of the occasions, having done so in 16 of the 29 games. 

The average first-innings score at this venue has been around 250, whereas the average first-innings winning score has been 280. South Africa registered the highest-ever World Cup total of 428/5 at this venue earlier this tournament. 

From an impact standpoint, pacers have taken more wickets than spinners at this venue, but spinners have had a better economy and average here.

Tactical insights

> David Warner has struggled against off-spin in recent years, averaging only 27.6 in 16 games since the last World Cup. The Netherlands can bank on Aryan Dutt to do the good work he has been doing against left-handed batters in order to contain Warner.

> Steve Smith has been dismissed six times in seven innings against right-arm pacers this year. Bowlers have targetted either his stumps or getting the balls shape away from his body, tempting him to play the drive. Smith has become vulnerable to the good length deliveries hitting the stumps or moving away, something the Netherlands can focus on.

Team News & Probable XIs

Mitchell Marsh didn’t confirm whether Travis Head would surely return to the playing XI but indicated that Head had a good range hitting on the previous night. If Head really returns to the playing XI, then Labuschagne will have to sit out.

Australia Predicted XI: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Josh Inglis (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

It’s highly unlikely that the Netherlands will make any changes to their playing XI for the Wednesday encounter.

Netherlands Predicted XI: Vikramjit Singh, Max ODowd, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Teja Nidamanuru, Scott Edwards (c & wk), Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren