"Every game now becomes almost like a final" - Pat Cummins on Australia's remaining matches of 2023 World Cup
Australian skipper Pat Cummins has insisted that they are in complete strife in the 2023 World Cup ahead of a near must-win game against Sri Lanka on Monday, October 16. The right-arm speedster admitted that the Aussies have been nowhere near their best in the tournament.
Australia's batting, especially their struggles against spinners, has been the biggest talking point as they failed to reach 200 in both matches so far. India's spin trio skittled the five-time champions for 199 in 49.3 overs, while South Africa bowled Australia out for 177 when they were in pursuit of 312.
Speaking ahead of the clash against Sri Lanka in Lucknow, Cummins reckons every game has almost become like a final for them and stressed the need to start winning immediately. As quoted by cricket.com.au, the 30-year-old said:
"We've got to start winning and start winning quick. Every game now becomes almost like a final, you've got to win just about all of them. The opportunity now is we've got some teams we haven't played for a while, that we've had a lot of success against, and (we can) be really confident when we go out there."
Cummins added:
"When we're at our best, we're putting big runs on the on the board, we're putting the pressure back onto the opposition and our bowlers are taking wickets through the middle. We haven't been able to pull any of that together so far (this World Cup)."
The Men in Yellow are set to take on a Sri Lanka side armed with capable spinners like Dunith Wellalege and Maheesh Theekshana.
"To keep them to just over 300 was fantastic" - Pat Cummins
Pat Cummins also praised Australia's death-bowling effort against South Africa in the previous game and wants to keep it going this year. He said:
"Everyone's desperate to turn it around. Looking back at 2019, India and South Africa were the two teams that we lost round games to there. That's as well as 'Starcy', Josh and myself have bowled to close out an innings. To keep them to just over 300 was fantastic and that becomes a bit of a blueprint and the standard we'd like to get to each game."
Should Australia suffer a group-stage exit this year, it will be their first since the 1992 edition.