Five reasons for Australia's recent struggles in away ODIs
In the 2nd ODI of the ongoing series between India and Australia, the hosts defeated Australia by 50 runs and took a 2-0 lead in the 5-match series. This loss also meant that Australia haven't won an away ODI since 27th September 2016.
For a team that have won 58% of their away ODIs, this is unusual. In this article, we highlight a few of the reasons which have caused the Kangaroos' away misery of late.
P.S: All the stats are only for away ODIs played between September 2016 and September 2017:
#1 Opening Woes
Over the years, Australia have been known to have strong opening partnerships. Be it Hayden-Gilchrist, Watson-Haddin or even Warner-Finch, these pairs used to propel Australia to flying starts. In addition, these pairs were steady and they were persisted with at the top of the order for a long time.
However, in the last year, this has not been the case for the current World Champions. In 12 away games played, four different opening combinations have been tried. The opening partnerships have averaged 36 at a strike rate of 94.73.
During this period, only two 50+ and one 100+ opening stands have been recorded. In fact, the last opening stand of more than 50 came almost a year back, on Australia's tour of South Africa. Quite clearly, a lack of strong starts has scuppered Australia's plans.