With only three matches remaining on the route to the ODI World Cup, Australia‘s bowlers are in a vulnerable situation as they deal with a number of difficulties. In Indore, they continued to struggle and lost the fifth straight ODI match. The struggling bowlers could only watch as India recorded a daunting 399 for 5 in their allotted 50 overs after electing to bowl after winning the toss for the fourth time in five games.
Sean Abbott, an Australian paceman who played in three of those four games, including the gruelling match in Indore where he gave up 91 runs in ten overs, thought back on this demoralising performance and openly admitted their flaws. Recognising that their inability to hit the mark has become an obvious problem as the World Cup approaches, he emphasised the urgent need for improved execution.
We’ve obviously just not performed as well as we would have liked. It’s OK to say that we’ll learn from these games and other things of the sort, but we really need to execute better overall. As soon as we missed the stumps today, as it was somewhat the same in South Africa as well, we were punished, Sean Abbott said, according to cricketmood.
Sean Abbott optimistic assessment as opposed to the data: “I thought the death bowling was pretty good.”
The performance of Australia in the death overs has been one glaring problem. They gave up an incredible 96 runs in the final ten overs in each of the last four games: 113 in Johannesburg, 113 in Potchefstroom, 173 in Centurion, and 103 in Indore. This obvious shortcoming was made worse by a slow over-rate penalty, which required the 31-year-old to bowl the pivotal 50th over with only four fielders outside the circle. However, Sean Abbott did find some hope when he said,
“Even though we attempted 400 once again today, I think the death bowling was quite good. It can yet be greatly enhanced. Although we have a highly skilled attack, as I’ve said a few times already, we need to work on improving our execution when it comes to getting those stumps into play, owning our lengths, and applying pressure to the batters in that way.