Published: Oct 10, 2016, 04:27 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 10, 2016, 04:27 PM (IST)
Australia‘s current One-Day International (ODI) side are currently going through tough phase. Coming from convincing series win against Sri Lanka in their backyard, Australia looked a settled team in ODIs but due to inexperience bowlers in the current ongoing series in South Africa, has led them to series loss without any win so far. After losing the third ODI, Australian captain Steven Smith blamed the loss to inexperience bowlers in the side but in the fourth match, totally opposite happened as their batsmen failed to score on a pitch which was offering a bit to bowlers. Batting first, Australia were bowled out for mere 167 with Mithcell Marsh and Matthew Wade being the only fifty scorer from their side. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: South Africa vs Australia, 4th ODI at Port Elizabeth
Half of the Australian team went back to pavilion at the score of 49 and thanks to South African pacer Kyle Abbott and chinaman Tabraiz Shamsi for that disastrous start of the visiting team in fourth ODI. The chase of 168 was never a tough task for South African side as they did with six wickets and 87 balls remaining. Recently, Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Wade opened up on that loss and commented that total around 230-250 would have brought difference in result.
As reported by ESPNCricinfo, Wade said, “I don’t think any game that you lose for Australia is tougher than the next, they all hurt just as much. Having said that, on that wicket, if we could have posted a reasonable total, anywhere around 230-250, I think we would have been right in the game. So I think it’s disappointing we didn’t get those runs on the board because I feel like the wicket was deteriorating and getting a touch slower as the game moved on.”
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During his knock of 52 runs, Wade was involved in a verbal exchange with spinner Shamsi. It was started by Wade when he tucked Shamsi in the elbow while taking a run. “It’s just competitive cricket. International cricket is hard work. We had a crack the other night and they came back at us today, so it’s fair. I suppose it can get blown out of proportion at times, with all the technology around now. There are stump mikes and cameras everywhere. I enjoy that sort of a game, it got me in the contest straight away. We’ve got to find a way to keep him (Shamsi) out of the contest. I think if he doesn’t get in the contest with wickets as quick as he did today, I think we can keep him a little quieter.” Wade added.
Wade also spoke about his on field chats with umpire by saying, “A lot of the conversations I was having with the umpires were about different things. Obviously, there was one moment when I first walked out there that he told us to settle down, and then, after that, it was just general chats. It wasn’t really anything to do with what was going on out there, they were just general conversations.”
Despite that verbal altercation with Shamsi, Wade praised him for his bowling and quipped, “He’s obviously something different, we faced him in the West Indies. When the ball is spinning, like it was spinning today, he’s difficult. He’s a good bowler, he’s quite tough to read early. You need to face a few balls to really get a read on him. We need to play him better, for sure, but if the wicket’s got a little bit in it, he’s tough.”
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Wade came to bat when Australia were 49 for five after 15 overs. From there on, Wade and Marsh built a decent partnership of 62 runs. As per Wade, it was not an ideal to arrive at the crease for him but enjoyed partnering with Marsh and said, “It wasn’t ideal to be out there that early, obviously, but it was good to get it with Mitchy and work as hard as we could to build a partnership. Unfortunately, we just kept losing wickets at crucial times of the game today. We need to start winning a few more crucial moments, and me and Mitch, at that point, had put on 60 or so. We needed to probably knuckle down and take the innings as deep as we could to get to a reasonable total.”
In the end, Wade also praised the way South African team outplayed Australia and the changes they made for this match in their team. Wade also said that he wants to go home on a positive note by winning the last ODI of the serues. “I think the changes they (South Africa) made suited the wicket; they brought a couple of spinners in. We wanted to really win the last two games and go home on a high, that hasn’t happened. We haven’t played anywhere near our best throughout the first four games. We’ve got to have a long, hard look in the mirror and find a way to produce our best in the next game. We’re not in a position where we can just walk out and play under par and win games of cricket,” Wade said.
