Adam Zampa picked three wickets against Afghanistan.
Australia enjoyed a convincing victory against Afghanistan on Sunday (1 June). Leg spinner Adam Zampa praised the Australian pacers for using the bouncer ploy very well against the Afghanistan batsmen.
The Afghanistan batsmen are mostly used to play in conditions that do not offer good bounce. The Australians used that to their advantage and planned about bowling short to them in order to bundle them out quickly.
Zampa said, “[There was] a bit of pace in the wicket I think. With our taller guys playing Afghanistan, who predominantly play in the subcontinent and face a lot of spin, that was our game plan to get it up there. We wanted to play an aggressive style of cricket throughout this whole tournament, so to have those three big quicks bowling the way they did helps me as well.”
He returned with figures of 8-0-60-3. Najibullah deposited him for a couple of sixes in a single over and he conceded 22 runs in that over.
About his bowling, the leggie said, “The ball didn't come out as well as I would have liked to today, but that is going to happen. I already had two wickets under my belt and I knew I had a huge role to play coming up. We were getting towards bowling to the tail, especially after [Stoinis] got those two big wickets. I always forget about [being hit for runs] really quickly and try and keep it simple. I probably over-complicated that over a bit and I knew if I had the opportunity again, I would really simplify it.”
Australia have picked another spinner, Nathan Lyon, in their World Cup squad. However, he missed out against Afghanistan. Zampa believes that they have struck a good partnership and they might appear together in an XI in this World Cup.
He said, “I think me and Nathan have formed a really good partnership. So I think we will feature together. I don't know how much, but I think we will.”
The 27-year-old also appreciated the Afghanistan team for playing fearless cricket and believing in themselves.
He said, “They came out today and played some fearless cricket. They could have been in their shell, but everyone has been talking about them so much lately about how much they have improved and, to be fair, they have. And today they come out and played fearless cricket. They lost wickets at times when they wouldn't have wanted to, but the middle order came out and kept swinging and playing shots.”
“If they keep playing cricket like that, particularly with the bowling attack they have got, they will make some upsets this World Cup,” he added.
(Source: The Cricketer)