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Sri Lanka vs Australia: Fluttering Australia desperate to survive in ODIs

If Australia have anything to take from the first two ODIs, it is amply clear that any score in excess of 250 can be tricky for them while chasing since Sri Lanka.

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Australia are in a desperate position © AFP
Australia are in a desperate position © AFP

Australia’s defeat to Sri Lanka in the second One-Day International (ODI) was their biggest defeat to the island nation in the history of 50-over cricket, and a team which is fighting tooth and nail for survival in toughest of conditions, sent their captain packing for home for ‘much-needed rest’. Now that Steven Smith is back home, Australia’s best chance of making big runs has also diminished to some extent, and the remainder of the ODI series in Sri Lanka may as well turn into a desperate attempt to survive, and avoid further humiliation. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Australia vs Sri Lanka 3rd ODI at Dambulla

Whether Australia’s decision regarding Smith was right or wrong, justified or unjustified, the fact is that post his exit; their batting has become even more brittle. Without any batsman promising runs and as a result victories, Australia are entering a phase so tough that it may land them into further trouble and many more questions to answer. ALSO READ: Australia’s ploy to rest Steven Smith defies cricketing logic

If the first two ODIs in this five-match series are anything to go by, Australia are in a lot of trouble post Smith’s exit, just because they do not have a grinder in the middle-order who can drop anchor. Be it any form of cricket, the quality of a batting mainstay of providing solidity to the rest of the batting and allow others to bat around him cannot be taken away. Thus, with Smith gone, it can be said that the chances for the world champions to challenge the Sri Lankans are gone as well.

In the first ODI, Australia did stutter. There were a few good bowling performances as well as runs from the top-order — including a half-century from Smith — but somewhere the conviction was missing. Australia managed to restrict Sri Lanka to a moderate total, and irrespective of conditions, a target as docile as less than 230 should have been achieved with a few overs to spare and decent amount of wickets in hand.

Australia’s game plan in the second ODI was tad shocking, but not as much as their failure to reply back when Sri Lanka counter-attacked. Kusal Mendis is taking giant strides in international cricket, and his splendid performances have certainly created some doubts in the Australian minds simply because this is one batsman they have failed miserably to remove early.

Travis Head has been inducted in the ODI side on the promise of runs, but somewhere, the Australians have expected him to get wickets. In reality, Head has leaked runs, and as far as the second ODI was concerned, the point in which he was brought into the bowling attack was terrible. Mendis punished him for 20 runs in his first over itself, which not only opened the doors for Sri Lanka to come back into the game but beat Australia on their own strategy. The tourists took the field with just one specialist fast bowler in Mitchell Starc, and thus had to stick with the choice they had to make. But none of that demanded Smith and the Australians to be unimaginative, since they allowed Head to continue for three more overs which cost them 41 runs without any wicket.

Australia’s bowling plans against a resurging Sri Lankan batting are not at the right place, since they had to employ as many as seven bowlers to complete their quota of 50 overs. Among the seven bowlers used, only two bowlers had an economy which can be said impressive: Adam Zampa returned with the figures of 10-0-42-3 with an economy of 4.20. Aaron Finch, who bowled only 2 overs, was lucky that he was not taken for cleaners by Sri Lankan batsmen who scored a minimum of five runs off each over against every other Australian bowler.

The fact that Australia missed a trick in the Test series by not including Adam Zampa can have no explanation, but it looks as outrageous as the one that has been taken regarding Smith. But not a lot can be changed now; David Warner, who has an additional burden on his shoulders, will have to get back to his best.

Warner is still Australia’s biggest hope if they have to win in Sri Lanka. But apart from a characteristic rapid half-century in the final outing in the Test series, Warner has not yet made a mark. Smith’s exit has ensured he will be the 23rd Australian captain in the ODI format, and the captaincy role could not have come at any tougher time than this.

Warner’s challenge will be to get runs out of the Australian batsmen, as scores of anything less than 300 can be considered moderate and not enough, especially with his spinners not being able to create the same impact. Warner will know that he needs runs as much for the team as for himself. He has been through such lean patches in the past as well, and luckily for him, Warner has returned back to runs earlier than expected.

James Faulkner’s hat-trick could not make much difference for Australia because the damage was already done. If Australian bowlers cannot snaffle wickets at regular intervals, they will need to find out ways to cut down scoring and not allow the Sri Lankans to settle down. In the second ODI, Australia’s failure to keep hurting Sri Lanka proved to be detrimental. Whenever Australia had Sri Lanka on the mat, they allowed them to get up and start punching again. Sri Lanka stumbled in patches: the hosts lost 2 wickets early on, as many in the middle overs and there was collapse late in their innings which saw the hosts not batting for their full quota of 50 overs.

If Australia have anything to take from the first two ODIs, it is amply clear that any score in excess of 250 can be tricky for them while chasing since Sri Lanka have decked up their bowling attack with spinners. On the other hand, the dependency on the part-timers in crucial overs can work if wickets are coming at regular intervals. Warner, in this case, has a lot to address.

(Devarchit Varma is senior writer with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)

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