Follow UsOn Saturday, Australia registered their seventh consecutive win of this World Cup to confirm third spot on the table, but they had to work hard for it, as they had to complete their highest ever successful chase in World Cups. They eventually chased the target down without breaking a sweat, but despite the thumping result, there are slight question marks over the Australian bowling unit.
In Pune, Bangladesh became the fourth team in this WC to breach the 300-run mark against them, and the Tigers did so despite having not previously crossed the barrier in the WC. Pakistan and New Zealand also scored over 300, while Afghanistan, a few days ago, nearly got there.
Australia have not been at their lethal best with the ball in this World Cup but Mitchell Marsh, whose 177* floored Bangladesh on Saturday, played down suggestions that the Kangaroos’ attack lacks bite.
“There's probably a number of things that that comes down to. There's been some really fat wickets and some small grounds. I didn't realise how small this one was, even though I played here a little bit,” Marsh said on Saturday.
“There's a lot of good teams out there, a lot of teams have chased down big totals so I think it's about having a mentality to keep taking wickets but understanding that when guys get on top that that's going to happen at this level and whatever's put in front of us, we try and chase it down.”
The result on Saturday means that Australia will walk into the semis as the second-most in-form side, behind India, having won a staggering seven matches on the bounce. They will take on South Africa in the semi-finals, and Marsh said that the Kangaroos are pumped up for the challenge.
“Yeah, we're really excited. Semifinals, I think you look back to the start of the World Cup and a 9- one day game seems like a long way away. With the amount of improvement with all cricket teams around the world there's been not one easy game so to get to the semi-finals is great - but yeah, we're very excited about what lies ahead and the challenge that's ahead of us.”
As far as his own contributions are concerned, Marsh joked that he was happy to score a ton after starting the second innings on ‘minus fifty’. The all-rounder delivered 4 overs in the heat but got taken for 48 runs by the Bangladesh batters.
“Yeah, it’s great to be able to score 100 in a winning team. I started at negative 50 after my bowling, so I had to get a few back. But, yeah, it's, as I said before, any time you score 100 for Australia, it's always a great feeling. We're obviously really excited about what lies ahead for us,” Marsh said.
The semi-final against South Africa will be played at the Eden Gardens on Thursday, November 16th.