Cricket World Cup: Middle order woes and Adam Zampa form headline Australia’s issues

There were a handful of key queries about Australia’s one-day game heading into the World Cup; pretty much all of them remain concerns, writes DANIEL CHERNY.

It wasn’t quite Herschelle Gibbs putting down Steve Waugh in 1999.

But as far as costly catches come, dropping Virat Kohli with India hurtling towards breaking point is in the upper echelon of ones you really need to be taking.

On the back of excellent new ball bowling from Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, Australia had improbably worked its way into a winning position. From 7-140 the Aussies had eked their way to 199, and after falling to 3-2, India was still at a precarious 3-20 when Hazlewood hurried Kohli into a miscued pull.

It was between wicketkeeper Alex Carey and Mitch Marsh floating in the mid-wicket region. Conventional wisdom dictates that when in doubt, defer to the man with the gloves. But Marsh barged his way in, got to the fall of the ball, and spilt it.

Kohli isn’t in the habit of giving second chances. Not least in the run-chase of a one-day international, a format in which the Indian icon averages more than 64 in the second innings.

From there Australia was never really in the game. Kohli and KL Rahul consolidated and chances were few and far between.

Mitch Marsh (L) reacts after dropping a catch from Virat Kohli. Picture: Getty Images

It would be easy to lay the blame at the feet of Marsh, who had a nightmare day overall after making a duck opening the batting.

Had he made such an error five years ago the Aussie public would have wanted his head on a platter, but such days are a distant memory, the all-rounder having endeared himself through The Test documentary series and with several telling performances with red and white ball.

While Marsh’s bungled attempt was the clear turning point of the game, poor fielding (and he wasn’t alone on that front) was just one of a laundry list of concerns for the Aussies, who head to Lucknow for matches against South Africa and Sri Lanka needing a swift turnaround in form if they are to give this title a serious tilt.

If there were a handful of key queries about Australia’s one-day game heading into this tournament, then pretty much all of them remain concerns after one match.

While a sluggish and spin-friendly pitch didn’t help the cause, the idea that Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne are too similar to play in the same white-ball top order was hardly debunked when they combined for a 1980s-esque stand of 36 from 64 balls, featuring just one boundary.

Cameron Green’s form has not recovered since the Ashes. Picture: Getty Images

The jury is still out, but Australia surely cannot win the World Cup if its No. 3 and 4 don’t tick things over more swiftly.

But more worrying than Smith and Labuschagne is the middle order combination of Cameron Green and Carey, who made eight and 0 respectively. Both have looked like shells of themselves since midway through a trying Ashes campaign. With Marcus Stoinis closing in on a return to full fitness, and Josh Inglis waiting in the wings, Australia has options to replace both of them.

One man for whom the Aussies don’t have the same luxury though is Adam Zampa. So bankable for much of the last four years ahead of this tournament, he has reached the event itself banged up and well off his peak. His world record expensive day at Centurion last month was easily enough laughed off, but Zampa was unthreatening and profligate at Chepauk on Sunday night.

Australia might have worried whether Glenn Maxwell could be relied on for 10 overs, but he was comfortably the better of Australia’s spin pair. And without Ashton Agar in the 15 anymore, Zampa is the only option unless Tanveer Sangha can somehow be manoeuvred into the squad. Zampa simply has to be much, much better.

Adam Zampa is crucial for Australia’s hopes in this World Cup. Picture: Getty Images

It was a fruitless night with the ball too for Australia’s skipper Pat Cummins, who, while not atrocious, could not apply pressure like Starc or Hazlewood. Cummins had an ugly few minutes when he bowled a ball so wide it missed the cut strip and was called a no-ball, only to bowl a wide from the free hit.

If Australia is to enter a match with just two frontline quicks - as the hierarchy has repeatedly said it is prepared to do - then on this showing Cummins is the third seed. Although with so many other issues around the XI, that scenario looks a fair way off.

There are a couple of saving graces for the Aussies. Firstly, the round-robin nature of this tournament means that one defeat in the league stage is not catastrophic.

The other is that by at least forcing India to the final 10 overs of the run chase, the Aussies haven’t suffered too massive a net run rate loss, the issue that undid them in last year’s Twenty20 World Cup via a heavy first-up defeat to New Zealand from which they never recovered. The margin for error has shrunk considerably though.

Australia needs to make sure that Lucknow is lucky, and now.