Australia's Bowlers Establish An Unwanted Record In India

 

 

Ashes 2013

 

Australia suffer bowling Armageddon

 

October 17^th

  

Having won an international match in India at the tenth attempt on October 13^th, with a comfortable victory in the first ODI, Australia saw a totally different side of ODIs yesterday. Only four times in the 3420 official ODIs played has a side failed to defend a score of 340+. Australia holds the dubious distinction that they were the losers every time in these four largest ever successful chases (they were also the victims of the sixth largest chase). Against India yesterday, Australia failed to defend 359, the second largest successful chase ever in ODIs. What was worse was that India chased down the total with such ridiculous ease that it is unlikely that, on the day, Australia could have defended even 400+.

A 9 wicket win with six and a half overs to spare, against an attack that featured three players who are likely to figure in the upcoming Ashes series, was about as bad a defeat as you can imagine any side inflicting on the visitors. As in the T20, Australia set a total that they must have felt confident of defending 99 times out of 100 but, a 52 ball century from Virat Kohli made a mockery of the target. India set out at nearly 7 an over for the first 25 overs and then accelerated to more than 10 an over for the last 14 overs of the innings. The last 166 came from just 89 balls. Whereas the Australian attack had imposed itself in the first ODI, defending with comfort what looked like a decent, but by no means impossible target, In this game, they were destroyed. In the first ODI Mitch Johnson, McKay and Faulkner had taken a collective 6-121 in 28 overs, wrecking the Indian reply; here it was 1-192 from 23 overs. To add to Australia’s woes, India’s total was boosted with 21 wides, as discipline was lost by the attaack.

To have set a huge target and failed to defend it twice in three games is the sort of gift that England were hoping for from this tour. Reducing Australian options, destroying the morale of likely reserves and, in the case of Mitch Johnson, a potential spearhead of the Australian attack at a time when injury problems to other candidates make his return to the Test side ever more likely, was always going to be a possible result of this series. England will not be unhappy if Saturday’s third ODI produces a similar result.

While Australia’s ODI batting looks extremely powerful, with Aaron Finch producing the sort of shock effect that David Warner had when he first played for the side, the bowling looks extremely vulnerable when it is not getting a lot of help from the conditions. What the effect on morale will be when the bowlers consistently fail to defend huge targets remains to be seen.