Follow UsAdam Zampa finally made an impact in the all-important encounter against Sri Lanka on Monday (October 16) after having mediocre outings against India and South Africa in the ongoing World Cup. The legspinner hasn’t been in great form of late but scalped 4/17 in Lucknow to give Australia their first win in the tournament.
Prior to this game, Zampa operated at an economy of more than six in five of his last six matches. He conceded 113 runs in Centurion, and had combined figures of 1/123 in 18 overs in the first two games of the World Cup. Against Sri Lanka, Zampa leaked 22 runs in three overs before dismissing Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Chamika Karunaratne and Maheesh Theekshana in his next spell.
“I'm very good at self-reflection. I look back on the first two games and I'll probably look at the last game as one where I could have made a difference and made it easy for those other guys. But yeah, the India game, I mean, we're under the pump defending 200 and I'm always going to be the guy who tries to get wickets,” said Zampa after Australia’s five-wicket win.
“I'm not going to try and let the game peter out and let it go into nothing. So yeah, figures, whatever. It's more about my attitude and reflecting on that. Did I bowl the ball where I wanted it to? Did I make the right decisions? Did I put my game on the line to try and make a difference? That's how I think about it. I don't really care about combined figures. It's just doing what I can to try and help win the game.”
Three of his four dismissals came via a googly and that was a clear sign that Zampa had his rhythm back after two disappointing outings. “It's kind of my wicket-taking option. It's kind of something that I go back to in my head if I feel like I'm not in the game. I go, right, how can I get a wicket and how can I get myself bowling better, more energy? Can I try a little bit more, put the batsman under the pump, roll in sliders, or whatever it is? I guess if that's coming out well, I feel like I've got the confidence to bowl wherever I want it.”
Despite being on the verge of a five-wicket haul, Zampa didn’t complete his spell. The 31-year-old went off the field after his eighth over and was seen removing an orthopedic belt from his back before heading into the dressing room. “This is a bit of a random one to be honest,” explained Zampa.
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“I did a gym session a couple of nights ago and I don't know if you've ever had a back spasm, but I was worse for wear the last couple of days. I had to do a fitness test before the game. I felt like adrenaline was going to get me through and a bit of Panadeine Forte. It was a tough one to get through, but I think as I said, one of those random ones that will wear off the next day.”
Talking about his first spell, Zampa said: “It took me a lot longer than I wanted to get into the game. Bowling to set batters as well, trying to build some pressure, I just wasn't really able to do that. I won't make any excuses. And then I thought Cummins’ spell in particular was a bit of a game changer for us and even his energy in the field, the run out after the rain break, it changed the energy for us.”
There was a bit of pressure on skipper Pat Cummins as well but the paceman responded in some style. Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera put on 125 runs for the opening wicket and it looked like everything was going downhill for Australia but that’s when Cummins stepped up and dismissed both the batters to give his team a much-needed opening. He then even got a direct hit to get rid of Dunith Wellalage.
“We all back each other 100% in this team, so I don't really know what's been said or what people are reading, but the only thing that I saw come on the WhatsApp group was the same 11 as last game. There's no pressure on Pat there. As I said, we’ve got a really good feeling in the group in terms of backing each other, and looking after each other.”
The run-chase wasn’t as simple as it looked. Australia lost David Warner and Steven Smith in the fourth over but Mitchell Marsh, Marnus Labuschagne and Josh Inglis made valuable contributions before Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis finished the game with fiery cameos.
“Marnus does what Marnus does and then it made guys like - it made Ingo's (Josh Inglis) job a lot easier. He obviously put the bowlers under the pump straight away. Theekshana - hitting him for two boundaries in two balls… it does it… it changes the momentum. Then Maxie decided to work on the Net Run Rate, so him and Stoin (Stoinis) finished it off really well.”
Australia's next game is against Pakistan on Friday in Bangalore and Zampa wants his team to get on a roll after this win. “As Boss said the other day, we get backed into a corner and guys step up and we get on a roll, then anything can happen. It's a World Cup, so get on a roll. Obviously, really big game against Pakistan in Bangalore, and if we can put it all together and play a good game there, you go two and two and the feeling's much better.”