0-2 Start Well Behind the Aussies
As one of the world’s premiere cricketing nations, the Australian’s came into the World Cup with their sights set on winning it all. Very quickly however, these goals shifted to simply making it through to the knockout rounds.
Australia fell to both India and South Africa in ugly fashion to begin the tournament and the team looked to be in shambles. Fast forward to now and their original goal is certainly back on the table.
The Aussies have looked like a completely different side over their past four games, their bats have come alive and the bowling has greatly improved as Australia now sits at 4-2.
Victories Revisited
Australia Vs. Sri Lanka
Australia got their first win two weeks ago now with as chasing just 209 they got to 215 with five wickets to spare against Sri Lanka. A full breakdown of the match can be read here.
Australia Vs. Pakistan
Australia had a tough task on hand with at the time 2-1 Pakistan and after losing the toss it seemed as though the odds were in Pakistan’s favour given the conditions of the pitch.
Batting first, Australia saw nearly all their damage done by David Warner and Mitchell Marsh. Warner went for a massive 163 while Marsh, not to be outdone blasted 121 of his own.
The bowlers took care of the rest with Adam Zampa scoring his second four wicket performance in a row securing the 367-305 victory for the Aussies.
Australia Vs. Netherlands
The Netherlands theoretically should be a fairly straight-forward match for a team like Australia. However, coming off a shocking defeat of South Africa, it was clear they could not be taken lightly.
Australia once again batted first and had four men score 60 or more runs including a David Warner 104 and Glenn Maxwell 106. They finished on 399 and were well in the driver’s seat.
The team bowled spectacularly with Zampa once again claiming four wickets as they held Netherlands to just 90 runs.
Australia Vs New Zealand
The toughest match of this four-game stretch was neighbouring New Zealand. The Black Caps were 4-1 coming in having only lost to undefeated India.
New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl making it the third straight match Australia would be batting first. Travis Head, in his first match back from a broken hand smacked a glorious 109 at the top of the lineup to go with 81 from David Warner.
Four other Aussie men went for 30+ as they worked their way to a respectable 388.
Adam Zampa again spun the ball well for a three wicket day while captain Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood took two wickets each.
The match came down to the bitter end when New Zealand’s James Neesham was run out on a Marnus Labuschagne throw to Josh Inglis which sealed the deal stopping New Zealand’s chase at 383.
Aussies now sit in Fourth Place, and Look Poised to Keep Climbing
Australia now sits in fourth place in the standings and have all the momentum and opportunity needed to climb higher.
Above them, South Africa has a tough two match stretch against New Zealand and India while the Blackcaps themselves must face South Africa and Pakistan.
The Aussies themselves will face the bottom two teams thus far in the tournament in Bangladesh and England as well as a solid Afghanistan side.
