Australia in this WC

[sandeep]

have now won 2 games that they had no business winning.  

 

They still have only 2 bowlers, lack a bit of depth and dependability in their middle order, and are by no means a strong team.  But in this WC, there is no such thing as a team without chinks.  England's entire bowling unit is questionable.  India have a 5th bowler problem, a fragile middle order, and a timid batting strategy.  NZ are one batsman and one bowler short of being a dominant side, and as such need most of everything firing and going their way to beat a really good team. 

 

BUT, Australia showed against India - they may not be as good, but they aren't quitters.  Prior to the WC, I felt that Aus wouldn't make the semi-finals - Eng, Ind, NZ were sureshots, with a free-for-all for the 4th spot that I thought SA, or maybe Windies would grab.  We all know how SA turned out.  And I fear that the Aus-WI game may end up haunting the Windies.  I hope not - they are an x-factor team that will make things entertaining if they go deep into the tournament.  And as good as Eng/NZ are, they are the one team that I don't want India facing in their semi-final.  

 

This thread is about Australia though - and 2 wins with their backs to the wall, is going to boost their confidence.  They have 2 winnable games next - with the lankans and toygers, and then England after that.  Things are going to get interesting.  Especially if England manage to fluff another game before fronting up against their cousins from Kangaroo-land.  The scones and clotted cream boys play West Indies next.  No prizes for guessing what outcome I'm rooting for in that one!

[R!TTER]

No one wants to face them in SF or final, underestimate Oz at your own peril 

[sandeep]

19 minutes ago, R!TTER said:

No one wants to face them in SF or final, underestimate Oz at your own peril 

I think India has better odds facing Aus over WI/Eng in the semi-final.  

[maniac]

18 minutes ago, sandeep said:

I think India has better odds facing Aus over WI/Eng in the semi-final.  

Nope Eng bottles it under pressure. Wi or even Pak you never know who is going to turn up. Aus raise their game in semis and finals

[maniac]

@sandeep  at your patriotism but Aus is the same team that beat us 3-2 after being 2-0 down in fact could have won it 4-1 if not from a freak over by Vijay Shankar of all people.

 

We had a full strength squad and they had no Warner,Starc and Smith.

 

Sayinng that they won games they had no business winning is looking at it glass half full/half empty but they won moments of the game that they ended up on the winning side. That is an Aussie trait of you have followed them in the last 20 years or so. They had no business winning in 1999 as well by that some logic.

[Nikola]

It depends if we face them in knockouts then toss will be imp factor as well. They won't repeat these mistakes but their 4th & 5th bowlers are really weak links. They will need zampa to be at his best till knockouts else this one dimensional attack won't get them anywhere in knockouts.

[sandeep]

18 minutes ago, maniac said:

We had a full strength squad and

Go back and  check again.

[sandeep]

25 minutes ago, maniac said:

Sayinng that they won games they had no business winning is looking at it glass half full/half empty but they won moments of the game

Teams like West Indies and Pakistan are shyte teams - mentally, and from a consistency perspective.  One had to go through qualifiers to get to the WC, and needed rain and umpire fccck-ups to get here.  The other avoided scheduling series against West Indies, and played a whole bunch of ODIs with Zimbabwe to avoid having to go through qualification.  Cricket only has about 4-5 decent teams to begin with, and these 2 aren't in that tier.  Suffice to say, Eng/NZ/Ind - even SA, would not have let Aus off the hook from the situations that Aus managed to dig themselves into against Windies and Pakistan. 

 

Aussie teams are pugnacious no doubt, and as they showed that they won't jut roll over and quit - but they are nowhere near the teams of those WC-winning versions.  I know all of us have grown up simply being used to an Aussie team that was consistently class and top-notch.  But don't let the past color your objectivity. 

 

I stand by what I said - in a semi-final - India are more vulnerable to the West Indies and England, than to Australia.  Indian team knows how to handle what Australia can throw at them.  England are a bigger challenge, and so are the Windies, if they find their groove.

Edited June 12, 2019 by sandeep

[Adi BB]

Australia won 2 tough matches, lost the one which they could afford to but still gave a proper fight .

There bowling apart from starc and Cummins is a concern but the best thing they do is attack as a group instead if individuals, even the NCNs and the kanes chip in with influential performances .

They will get better and become even more tough to defeat

[Stuge]

They won because they played better cricket over opposing teams .So ,they had every business to win those matches .

[SK_IH]

Very good team but I stick with my prediction, Eng will knock Aus out of this WC

[Gollum]

First few rounds of a tennis major you win 6-0 6-2 6-4 or huff&puff in 4/5 setters....doesn't matter in business end unless fatigue is a factor. Fatigue ain't a factor here, in fact these close matches will make Australia more battle hardened giving them more belief to win close encounters. SF/F will be like a whole new tournament (on fresh pitches as if to drive home the point) and I back 5 time champs to outclutch all other teams. Any day would rather face England (best as per computer ranking) than Aussies in KO, the latter still has quality but what will make the difference is the mental make up. Based on their careers nothing to suggest Kohli, Bumrah will perform anywhere close to Smith, Starc in a big final. We severely lack mentally tough cricketers right now, even Rohit, Dhawan seem to lack the mettle. Don't need to be a super batsman to handle the heat, Gambo wasn't the best but delivered in the 2 finals. Srikkanth wasn't the best but top scored in 83 final and 85 B&H final. Who in this Indian side gives you the confidence that he won't suffer a major dip in performance in the final stage of this WC?

Edited June 12, 2019 by Gollum

[sage]

Regardless how they are playing, you would have to be a massive idiot to prefer being up against Australia in World Cup knockouts over any other team

[Sonix768]

We won against Aussies because it was a plain patta and we were batting first. Also there is that Carey dropping of Pandya. Had any one of it didnt happen things could have been very different. So Im not counting them out.They are one of hot favorites and I wouldnt want India to meet them in KOs