Analysis: An Australian team who just needs one chance to escape the jaws of defeat and appears to be in opposition heads

One missed opportunity. That’s all it took in Christchurch to regain momentum of the second Test against New Zealand. And it is not the first time the Australian men’s cricket team have made the most of their luck in the last 12 months, writes DANIEL CHERNY.

“One mistake here boys,” came the cry from Tom Latham, audible on the grass banks of Hagley Oval.

It was early in the middle session, and the second Test was still in the balance, with Australia 101 runs shy of its target.

Mitch Marsh and Alex Carey were batting well. But the New Zealand opener wanted to keep his teammates energised and remind them that one misstep from the Aussies would pave the way for the Black Caps to snap a more than three-decade home Test drought against their Trans-Tasman big brothers.

Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Tom Latham (centre-right) and Daryl Mitchell during day four in Christchurch, New Zealand. Picture: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images

Only Latham will know whether he truly believed an error was likely to come from Australia, but the cold hard truth for NZ was the day’s most glaring mistake had come hours earlier when Marsh was spilled on 28 by Rachin Ravindra.

Notwithstanding that Travis Head fell the next ball, Marsh had been given a chance, and for the third time since his Test recall in July he took significant advantage of a lucky break.

But this pattern extends beyond Marsh. Ben Stokes was put down Nathan Lyon with 37 still needed at Edgbaston.

Ravindra’s drop was reminiscent of a now famous drop at Edgbaston last year. Picture: Stu Forster/Getty Images

Then came Mujeeb ur Rahman, who spilled Glenn Maxwell at the Wankhede when the Victorian was on 33 during Australia’s World Cup league stage match against Afghanistan.

This is an outfit that if given a whiff believes it can and will make you pay. And it has a growing dossier of examples upon which it can call to prove the point or provide confidence when trouble is brewing.

There have been more talented and more ruthless Australian teams in the past, but few if any have scrapped better than this current iteration.

Glenn Maxwell was also the recipient of some fortune, but like in Christchurch and Birmingham, made the most of it. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

So it was on Monday. Rather than being paralysed by the prospect of defeat and the potential personal fallout, Carey batted as judiciously as he had all series, keeping his shots along the ground until late in the innings once the field had started to open up.

Such a spirit also lived inside Maxwell during his piece de resistance in November.

No player better embodies this than captain Pat Cummins, whose fourth innings batting average of 33.57 is almost double his overall mark.

Just like in Birmingham, Mumbai and Kolkata last year, Cummins was in the middle when the winning runs were struck to secure Australia’s three-wicket win in Christchurch.

Why does it keep happening?

“I think when your backs against the wall you do suddenly go into competition mode,” Cummins said on Monday after the latest bank robbery.

“You start trying to problem solve on the fly. And I think that’s when a lot of cricketers are at their best when they’re like that. You’re not worried about technique or you’re just playing exactly what’s in front of you. So maybe. I haven’t really thought about it. But there might be something.”

It is a testament to this group’s ability to find a way out of trouble that it has still won six Tests out of seven across the season despite having as many as four of its top six batters well below their best.

Similarly, the Aussies manufactured a path back from the brink of oblivion after being 0-2 at the start of the World Cup and in plenty of tricky spots within matches.

Captains Pat Cummins and Tim Southee ponder the Test that was. Picture: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images

With so many key players across all formats in their 30s, a potentially bumpy path lies ahead for the Aussies. But an ability to claw back from the precipice appears hardwired in this group, regardless of the ball’s colour.

The irony is that the team’s fallibility allowed it to develop such a reputation.

For decades Australia tended to steamroll opponents and lose the close ones, particularly in Test cricket. A team must be flawed enough to find itself in such tough spots.

It is not foolproof: Australia was pipped at Headingley by England and at the Gabba by the West Indies, but across nine months the Aussies have had their noses in front more often than not.

It is likely that come the T20 World Cup in June next summer’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy clashes, Australia will find itself in a hole or two, either in-game, in-series or both.

But the knowledge that these Aussies are very tough to kill off should engender confidence within the camp and plant a seed of doubt within the minds of their opponents.

Originally published as Analysis: An Australian team who just needs one chance to escape the jaws of defeat and appears to be in opposition heads