Australia disappoint in their opening Champions Trophy encounter

Alex Broun 20:21 03/06/2017
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  • Starc went wicketless on his return [Getty Images]

    Australia will not have been happy with their start to the Champions Trophy against New Zealand in Birmingham on Saturday.

    In the end, the level of performance was inconsequential as rain washed out what was shaping up as an intriguing contest. But the Aussies will be concerned with both facets of their play.

    The wicket was an absolute road with very little sideways movement off the pitch and despite the conditions, very little in the air.

    Mitchell Starc, who came into the tournament expected to be one of the most potent strike threats, was made to seem placid by the Blackcaps top order as he returned 0-52 from his nine overs. In a worrying sign for Australia, Starc seemed perplexed, almost sullen, during his bowling stints.

    The 27-year-old New South Welshman has been among the most vocal in the players’ ongoing pay dispute with Cricket Australia and judging by this performance that furore might have taken a greater toll on him than first thought.

    Pat Cummins, another supposedly fearful member of the Aussie pace quartet, was also easily dealt with going for 1-67 from his nine overs. This was something of a recovery as his first five overs went for a whopping 52, but he fought back to claim 1-15 off his last four.

    The only Australian bowler to hold his head high was Josh Hazlewood who took career-best ODI bowling figures of 6-52 but he was again expensive early leaking 20 off his first two overs.

    Smith held nothing back when assessing his attack after the match calling it “one of the worst bowling displays that we (Australia) have put on for a very long time.”

    Victorian speedster James Pattinson may get his chance in the next match against Bangladesh but that may not fix the problem.

    The wickets being prepared so far in the tournament are extremely batsman-friendly and with lightning quick outfields the bowlers have their work cut out for them to keep any team under 300. It may be a case of the quicker you bowl the quicker it goes to the boundary, with the batsmen using the bowlers’ pace (and Australia have some of the quickest bowlers in the tournament) against them.

    Part-timers like Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell and Moises Henriques might be far more effective as the batsmen will have to force their shots against them rather than just gliding and nudging to the boundary, as the Blackcaps did so effectively against the Aussies.

    Kane Williamson was rarely troubled on his way to a century at better than a run a ball, his first ODI hundred against Australia, and the out of form Luke Ronchi scored his first fifty in 12 ODI innings. The Kiwi top order would be keen to bat against this bowling attack every match.

    The Australian batsmen then failed to convince as the top order found it hard to adapt to the English conditions. David Warner was shaky during his 18 while Aaron Finch was all at sea scoring eight from 18 deliveries.

    It’s a long way from the IPL to the Champions Trophy and the Australian openers are finding out just how far.

    Australia have to regroup before their next match against Bangladesh although at this stage the Tigers will like their chances both to score heavily and restrict Australia’s batsmen.

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