Clarke’s men were bundled out for just 151 after he won the toss in a Pool A clash against fellow tournament co-hosts New Zealand at Auckland’s Eden Park on Saturday, with left-arm swing bowler Trent Boult taking a career-best five for 27. Top 10 bowlers in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
“We were extremely poor, there is no doubt about that,” said Clarke. “I think credit needs to go to New Zealand bowlers. They bowled really well. They swung the ball nicely and bowled good areas, but our shot selection was very poor, and I thought our defence more than anything else was an area that was a lot poorer than we would have liked. I think moving forward the balls are going to swing and we’ve got work to do with the bat. That’s for sure.”
It was only because of a last-wicket stand of 45 between Brad Haddin (43) and Pat Cummins (seven not out) that Australia avoided their lowest World Cup total of 129, against India at Chelmsford in 1983.
That Australia almost pulled off a stunning win was down to a brilliant bowling effort led by left-arm paceman Mitchell Starc‘s career-best six for 28. Starc took two wickets in as many balls before last man Boult blocked the final two deliveries of the 23rd over. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage
The first ball of the next over saw Kane Williamson (45 not out) strike the winning six off paceman Pat Cummins.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.