Men’s ODI WC: Collapse from 110-2 is that’s probably where the batting went wrong, says Hazlewood

Chennai: Australia’s premier fast-bowler Josh Hazlewood admitted that the side’ collapse from 110-2 to 199 all out in their 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup match against India at the MA Chidambaram Stadium was the thing which went wrong in their day with the bat.

Electing to bat first on a pitch which looked dry and little bit on the slower side, Australia were 110-2 in 27 overs, before Ravindra Jadeja came in to cause havoc and get his three scalps in a span of two overs to break the back of the visitors’ batting.

For Australia, who played 173 dot balls in their innings, Steven Smith and David Warner managed to make 46 and 41 respectively. But there was no noteworthy knock from the rest of the batters until Mitchell Starc hit two fours and a six in his late cameo of 28.

“The total was under par, I think. I can’t remember exact numbers, but I think we were two for 110 or something like that. Not going really quickly but just building a base to maybe launch in the last 10 or 15 overs and if we got 250-260 then it’s a different ballgame and we get those early wickets and get on top. So, I think from two for 110 to all out 200 (199) that’s probably where the batting went wrong,” said Hazlewood in the post-match press conference.

Once Smith fell, Australia were only able to add 90 more runs before being dismissed in 49.3 overs. What would also concern Australia was the lack of penetration and thrift from their spinners – Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell – after reducing India to 2-3. Hazlewood – Australia’s standout bowler with 3-38 in his nine overs – revealed dew was a reason behind Zampa and Maxwell not being able to grip the ball well.

“It obviously felt like it probably spun more in the first half. Definitely the dew came in but I think early in our bowling innings it was doing enough and it was still dry. The wicket was up and down a little bit.”

“So you felt in the game as a quick in particular I think, and then it got a little bit better to bat on right towards the end. I know it’s a partnership but I think it just felt a little bit easier as ball was just skidding on a little bit so, we’ll have a look at that.”

Hazlewood further denied Australia were light in options in the spin-bowling department for the World Cup, especially after Ashton Agar was ruled out due to a calf injury. “Our quicks are our strength probably up front as we saw tonight. Glenn Maxwell is a frontline spinner in particular in India.”

“He’s bowled a lot here throughout IPL and throughout one dayers. So, I consider him a front-line spinner. So we’ve got two spinners and three quicks as you know, a lot of the other teams do so, no I don’t feel that we’re short at all.”

A turning point in India’s chase came when Virat Koli was given a reprieve on 12 when Mitchell Marsh dropped a catch off Hazlewood’s bowling. Asked about the significance of that missed chance, Hazlewood didn’t put much hype around it and admitted Alex Carey might have put Marsh off in an attempt to get the catch.

“No, I don’t think so, it was quite early obviously when that catch was dropped. But we still felt that new ball was doing enough, whether it was in the air or off the wicket. We knew that spin was going to be tough to play, maybe not as tough as during the day, but still enough to play it.”

“We certainly felt in the game for quite a while until obviously the partnership grew and grew and they sort of batted us out of it obviously. I thought we did a reasonable job early in particular trying to defend 200.”

“I didn’t think Carey could get there. I think it was Mitch’s catch and probably just Carey got quite close in the end so it might have just put Mitch off. He dropped a catch, it’s one of those things that happens and everyone’s training hard and working hard off the field to hang on to them. So, we’ll continue on.”

–IANS