Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschange at centre of ugly Aussie dilemma at World Cup
The Aussie middle order has come into question after the opening game.
Australia is facing a dilemma at the Cricket World Cup with former captain Aaron Finch calling for more aggression in the middle order with Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne struggling against India. Australia opened their World Cup campaign against India in a brutal defeat with KL Rahul and Virat Kohli guiding the host nation to the target of 200.
Australia started off well against India in the first innings, but a middle order collapse of 7-89 left Australia scrambling to 199. And Ravi Jadeja was once again the antagonist for Australia having dismissed Smith, Labushagne and Alex Carey to take 3-3 in 10 balls.
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Australia were reeling and never recovered. Green's wicket saw Australia lose 5-30 in Chennai. While Aussie quick Josh Hazlewood did his best to rip through the Indian batting line-up, Rahul and Kohli were too classy and helped India easily chase down the target.
And Australia's tactics of using Smith, Labuschagne and Carey in the middle order have been questioned with none of the three offering the firepower other teams boast. Smith scored 46 of 71 balls, while Labuschagne scored 27 off 41 balls.
And former Aussie captain Finch has called for a change in mindset for the middle order having let the Indian spinners once again dictate the game. "You can't allow (Ravindra) Jadeja, Kuldeep (Yadav) and (Ravichandran) Ashwin to bowl how they want to bowl on a surface like that," Finch said after the first match on Stan Sport.
"They're so accurate and so highly skilled – Jadeja has done it to Australia so many times now. Part of it comes down to how India bowled spin, but we also need to look at the way that Australia batted. There was a clear plan among the group to be proactive, to try to limit dot balls and rotate strike against what they knew would be a world-class group of spinners.
"There was a bit of a lack of aggression from the Australian batters. I think they'll be disappointed by the intent they showed and the fact that they weren't able to put any pressure back on India."
Australia will have the dilemma of Marcus Stoinis returning to offer another selection headache against the game against South Africa. Smith has struggled in One Day Internationals this year having only averaged 30.50 in seven matches. Labuschagne has entered the World Cup in better form averaging 49.10 across 12 matches.
Glenn Maxwell cautious of new pitch against South Africa
Glenn Maxwell was critical of the Chennai pitch and compared the turning wicket to one used in the Test matches. However, Maxwell is cautious of the upcoming wicket against South Africa.
The new Lucknow field has been dug up and re-laid since the Indian Premier League and Maxwell said the team were unsure about what to expect for their second match. "We're at Lucknow at the moment and this is probably the most unknown (pitch) in the whole of India. Since the IPL ... I think the whole ground has been dug up and re-laid, so it's a bit of an unknown what we're going to get here," he said on SEN Radio.
"The conditions are so different everywhere and it's got its little intricacies. The grounds are all different sizes, Lucknow is a big ground, it's probably more similar to grounds we play on in Australia and hopefully it's a good wicket and we can put on a show."
Australia will need a win against South Africa in their second match of the World Cup.
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