Australia staring at shock World Cup exit after latest humiliation

Oct 13, 2023 Sports

The Telegraph – Australia’s World Cup campaign was thrown into disarray when they were thrashed by South Africa, their second successive defeat leaving next to bottom of the group table ahead of only Afghanistan.

To qualify for the semi-finals, Australia are now likely to need to win six of their seven remaining matches, including the ‘Ahmedabad Ashes’ on Nov 4 when England could knock their fierce rivals out of the competition.

After losing their opening game to tournament favourites India by six wickets, this latest mauling was even more comprehensive. South Africa’s imposing batting line-up scored 311 for seven in Lucknow, before Australia succumbed to just 177 all out, heaping further pressure on captain Pat Cummins.

Quinton de Kock commits fully to the dive. (ICC/Getty Images)

Sri Lanka, Netherlands and Afghanistan are the only other sides to have lost both their opening games and to add to Australia’s woes, their net run rate is in a perilous state, which makes the challenge of remaining in the competition even more daunting.

Australia’s next fixture is against Sri Lanka at Lucknow on Monday, before they take on Pakistan, Netherlands and New Zealand in the build-up to the England showdown.

Australia are the most successful team in the history of the World Cup, winning five times in 12 tournaments; no other nation has won more than twice. They have also twice been losing finalists.

Batting collapses have been a hallmark of both Australia’s defeats so far. None of Australia’s batsmen has yet reached a half-century. But while Australia’s demise against India in Chennai owed to their fallibility against spin, against South Africa they were undone by pace.

Kagiso Rabada knocked over Josh Inglis with a beauty. (Getty Images)

Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada, the Proteas’ outstanding new-ball trio, reduced Australia to 56 for four in the 12th over. The most spectacular wicket was Rabada clean bowling Josh Inglis with a delivery that seamed away to crash into the top of off stump.

Australia’s next wicket was highly controversial. Marcus Stoinis was judged not out by the on-field umpire after a ball from Rabada appeared to hit the batsman’s glove. Replays seemed to suggest that the glove was no longer attached to Stoinis’s bat handle – meaning that, according to the laws of the game, he should have been given not out. But third umpire Richard Kettleborough gave him out, explaining that in his judgment the bottom hand was touching the top one. Yet further replays suggested that Stoinis’s hands were not in fact touching each other.

In an apparent sign of their uncertainty over their best XI, Australia made two changes for the match, dropping wicketkeeper Alex Carey – who has struggled in all formats since his controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow in the Lord’s Ashes Test – and all-rounder Cameron Green. But Inglis, Carey’s replacement, made just five. Stoinis, a like-for-like replacement for Green, bowled two overs before making five runs.

Kagiso Rabada was at the centre of South Africa’s bowling excellence. (ICC/Getty Images)

Australia’s best bowler was off-spinner Glenn Maxwell, who returned two for 34. Yet even this performance increased questions about why Australia only selected one specialist spinner, Adam Zampa, in their final 15-man squad. Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar was in Australia’s original squad but was replaced by batsman Marnus Labuschagne.

Pace bowler Cummins returned figures of one for 71 from nine overs, and has combined figures of one for 104 from 15.1 overs this competition, leading some to suggest that – despite his brilliant Test record – he is no longer worth a place in Australia’s best one-day international XI.

Scores: South Africa 311 for 7(De Kock 109, Markram 56) beat Australia 177 (Labuschagne 46, Rabada 3-33) by 134 runs.

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Ahmedabad Ashes, Australia’s World Cup, competition, Glenn Maxwell, South Africa

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