Australia might not have a 100%-win record in the ongoing edition of ICC Cricket World Cup, but still, former skipper Allan Border believes the Aaron Finch’s led side are yet to hit their stride, something of which other teams should be worried of.
After a win in first two matches against Afghanistan and West Indies, Australia was outperformed by India. The owners of five World Cup titles weren’t at their best on Wednesday against Pakistan but managed to clinch a 41-run win.
"Australia aren’t playing at their best but they are winning matches - that’s the way I saw the win over Pakistan. They hung in there, rode out some pressure and came out with the victory," Border wrote in his column for ICC.
"The bottom line is there's room for improvement from Justin Langer’s team, and that's a good thing that will only worry every other side in this World Cup."
Allan Border was pretty much impressed with David Warner who scored his first century after his return from a year ban. The 63-year-old wasn't worried about Warner taking some to settle in, but feels the middle order needs to bat smartly.
From 189/1, Australia was bundled on a score of 307 in 49 overs. Hadn’t the openers have provided a solid start; Australia would have ended up on the other side.
"You can't knock the innings David Warner played. A few people have been saying he's scoring too slowly, but the ball was doing a bit and there was a little bit of swing and seam. He was typically belligerent and upped the scoring rate. Aaron Finch was his usual aggressive self, hitting the ball here, there and everywhere."
"In the middle overs, Australia needs to be a bit smarter. When you get a flying start as they did at Taunton, you’re desperate to keep that momentum going and it’s hard to do. Someone has to be prepared to just knock the ball around for a few overs but Pakistan didn’t really let them do that."
"I’ve got no problem with batting Glenn Maxwell at four, given the start Australia had. He’s so dangerous. He might not stick around, like Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja or Shaun Marsh, but he can take the game away from you and I think his team understands that a bit more than they did in the past."
Border was happy with the way things are going in the bowling department for Australia but felt Australia should have gone with Adam Zampa or someone like Smith.
"The bowlers did the job up front. Pat Cummins bowled fantastically well and that's a good sign, that he and Mitchell Starc are carrying the fight at the top.”
"The fifth, and even the fourth, bowling option is looking like a slight concern for them. Nathan Coulter-Nile bowled pretty well and got the big wicket of Babar, while Kane Richardson was a bit expensive.”
"I think they should look at Steve Smith having a bowl, I really do. Leg spin takes wickets and whether it’s Adam Zampa coming back in or Smith trying a bit of his spin, that should improve the attack dramatically."
(With Input from icc-cricket.com)
