3 concerns for Australia after nervy win vs Scotland in T20 World Cup 2024
Australia survived a major scare as they managed to secure a close five-wicket victory against Scotland in Match 35 of T20 World Cup 2024 in St. Lucia on Saturday (June 15). With this result, England qualified for the Super 8 stage of the showpiece event.
Although the Men in Yellow topped Group B with wins in all four games, a few questions have popped up regarding their performances in the group stage. They had dominating wins over Oman (39 runs), England (36 runs) and Namibia (9 wickets), but had to sweat it out in their final fixture against the Scottish side.
After Scotland posted a formidable total of 180, the Aussie side chased down the total with only two balls to spare. Travis Head (68) and Marcus Stoinis (59) were the key contributors for the side.
On that note, let's check out the three concerns for the Mitchell Marsh-led side heading into the Super 8 stage of T20 World Cup 2024.
#1 Sloppy fielding
The Australian side dropped a staggering six catches during their final league clash against Scotland. It was the most catches dropped by any team in T20 World Cup history.
Interestingly, the Aussie side had three missed chances on consecutive balls. Adam Zampa first spilled a chance at fine leg, while skipper Mitchell Marsh dropped the catch at cover and Matthew Wade could not hold on to the ball in the following ball. In total, Marsh dropped three, while Zampa, Wade and Travis Head failed to grab one each.
Although few of them were not straightforward, the Aussies are known for their gun fielding. Now, they will have the task cut out on their hands to pluck difficult chances, with the clutch Super 8 stage upon them.
#2 Inconsistency of Mitchell Starc & David Warner
The experience of clutch players always comes in handy for the teams in a big tournament like the T20 World Cup. The few players in the Australian side, who are known to perform well under pressure, are Mitchell Starc and David Warner.
After returning with figures of 2/20 against Oman, Starc has gone wicketless with 0/37 and 0/31 against England and Scotland, respectively. Certainly, his wicket-taking acumen, especially in the powerplay overs, will be crucial for the Australian team in the latter stages of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Warner started off the showpiece event with a 56-run knock against Oman and had a decent knock of 39 against England. However, his last two scores are read as 20 and 1. The southpaw, who is also coming off a bad IPL 2024, will look to play with a positive intent and provide a good start to the side.
#3 Lack of wicket-taking spinner apart from Adam Zampa
Adam Zampa has been Australia's finest bowler in the T20 World Cup so far with nine wickets in four games. In the last game, he took 4/12 against Namibia and was named the Player of the Match.
The Australian side lacks strong support for their specialist spinner, Adam Zampa, amid spin-friendly conditions in the Caribbean.
Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar played his first T20I against Scotland since playing last in T20 World Cup 2022. Although he picked up a wicket in his first over, Agar finished with figures of 1/39 in four overs.
Meanwhile, another option in Glenn Maxwell, bowled his full quota of four overs against Scotland and picked up two wickets. However, he proved to be quite expensive, conceding 44 runs. Previously, he bowled four overs and gave away 33 runs, without taking a wicket.
It will be interesting to see how the support system around Zampa performs in the Super 8 stage.