Australia National Cricket Team players were awful on the field in the 10th match of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 against Temba Bavuma-led South Africa National Cricket Team at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Thursday, October 12. Australia won the toss and opted to bowl first in the match. They made two changes to their playing XI as Marcus Stoinis replaced Cameron Green and Josh Inglis came in for Alex Carey.
However, the Aussies were extremely sloppy on the field as they dropped as many as six catches and made several errors on the field. The Pat Cummins & Co. looked low on confidence and dropped catches made things even terrible for them.
The wicket-keeper Josh Inglis, as well as skipper Pat Cummins, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc, and Marcus Stoinis, were among the players who were unable to hold onto the catches in the match. The Aussies were also slammed by the fans and experts for their poor show on the field.
WATCH – Quinton de Kock Gets Bowled While Attempting Reverse-Pull
As per ESPNcricinfo, Australia dropping six catches, regulation and tough, against South Africa was only the second instance in a men’s ODI since June 2018 that a team had dropped these many catches. The last team to do so was also Australia as they dropped six catches against England in Adelaide ODI in 2022.
Meanwhile, South Africa were able to post 311/7 on the board in 50 overs, thanks to wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock’s stunning ton and Aiden Markram’s stellar fifty. Although Australians struggled in the first innings against South Africa, Glenn Maxwell had a brilliant day as he gave away just 34 runs in his 10 overs and bagged two wickets.
During the mid-innings break, Maxwell said that he is enjoying the role of specialist spinner in the team. “It happened in little different flows – felt like they were well ahead, felt they were on track for about 350+, the last 15-odd overs we dragged it back really well.”
WATCH – Virat Kohli hilariously presents ‘Fielder of the Match’ medal to Shardul Thakur
He further added, “Got wickets at crucial times.. We are really proud of efforts in the back end. (On his bowling) There was a little bit of help out there, bigger boundaries as well, just tried to hit them to the longer boundary as much as possible. It’s been enjoyable to have a bit more bowling role.”
Australia will need to tighten up their fielding if they want to challenge the top teams in the World Cup.
