Follow UsAustralia have one of the most complete bowling units in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood generally operate in the powerplay, while the likes of Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis and Marcus Stoinis bowl those cutters and hard lengths in the middle and death overs. In Adam Zampa, the Men in Yellow have a world-class legspinner, while Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head are there to chip in if and when needed.
“I think over time our bowling has been a strength. I think the way they operate together, they know each other's games, they're really clear on the planning going in and I think we'll well planned for that game. You always get the benefit when you bowl second to see what the conditions are like for the team that bowls first,” said Australian head coach Andrew McDonald ahead of their game against Namibia on June 11 (Tuesday).
“Our problem last game was assessing the conditions as a batting unit. England was assessing it as a bowling unit. So, we got a look at the wicket. We were able to then identify the key parts that would work. It didn't really change from the prep. We felt as though we had a good understanding of the conditions and yes, a lot of it was just reinforcing during our batting innings what we're going to do and I thought Josh Hazelwood bowling a difficult end always stands up.
“Pat Cummins, his evolution as a T20 player, the more games that he plays is really impressive and Adam Zampa, arguably one of our best white-ball bowlers ever across ODI cricket and T20 cricket. Shows up when we need him to with key breakthroughs. We feel as though we've got options, which is the nice thing. And Marcus Stoinis, I thought was very impressive. He's really important to the way we balance our bowling.”
Australia hit 164 against Oman and then restricted them to 125. Against England in Barbados, Australia smashed 201 and ended up winning the game by 36 runs. Glenn Maxwell, who hasn’t been in good form of late, managed to spend some time in the middle and scored 28 runs against England. McDonald admitted that wasn’t a flawless innings but it would help his confidence after a terrible IPL 2024.
“It's a step forward. Sometime in the middle, it was a difficult surface outside the power play, challenge with spin. I think it ended up being 28 off 25 balls. But it was a significant innings in allowing the rest of the batting line-up to get where we wanted them to get to. So, albeit it wasn't the dynamic innings that we're used to with Glenn Maxwell, it was a different type of innings.
“It was important to allow Marcus Stoinis to come in where he did, allow Tim David and Matthew Wade, and then you're able to get to those 200 plus scores. Albeit he wasn't at what he'd see as his best, But I think it's a step closer. He's come off a poor IPL time in the middle, bowled a good first over. We took a risk in his second over, because the way the bowling was unfolding and the distribution of that, he was exposed there and Mo (Moeen Ali) took him down. But yeah, he's important just to the team in general and his fielding was outstanding again.”
Australia are currently at the top of the points table in Group B and a win against Namibia would send them through to the Super 8s. McDonald made it clear that Australia’s first goal is to qualify for the next round and then think about giving the players on the bench some game time. “I think first things first, qualify for the next stage. So, Namibia, we need a win to guarantee ourselves a way through.
“And then I think after that, once we've firmed up that qualification, then we can start to look at that potential if we feel like it's necessary. We know if we win this one, then we get the Q next to our name. We don't look too much further ahead than that at this stage. We will pick our strongest 11 for the opposition and the conditions and where players are at as well.
“We have got a short turnaround from the England game into this one. There's travel involved, so it's taking all that in and we won't take all that in until this afternoon. We'll check in with our players, where they're at, make sure that they're ready to perform ultimately for tomorrow's game, so we saw that in the first game playing we believe that whatever 11 we put out there it's going to be very very strong and arguably our best 11.”
Having played their first two matches in Barbados, Australia will now shift to Antigua for their clash against Namibia. “We had the luxury of playing them in a practice game. It would have been sight unseen coming into this if we didn't play them in the practice game. We've got to look at them there. Equally, they've got to look at us as well. I'm not sure how that sort of unfolds in terms of who gets the benefit of that.
“In terms of the ground here, the surface, we had a look at that yesterday on TV. We were able to look at what it offered. We're playing on the same surface. Clearly a strong breeze as well to contend with so there are going to be a lot of defensive options from certain ends in terms of the way we want to stack up our bowling and equally on the batting front we can use that wind and we saw that was a big factor in yesterday's game and I think it'll be a big factor across the tournament really.”
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