It should worry other teams that Australia know how to win a World Cup after a lousy start. Back in 1999, they arrived in the UK as though still in winter hibernation, and sleepwalked their way to defeats against New Zealand and Pakistan after making hard work of a modest chase against Scotland. We know what happened next.
Comparisons across eras make no sense, and this team certainly doesn’t have the X-factor that Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist gave that side. What they do have is a core group that knows what it takes to win global trophies, and oodles of experience. Sometimes, that alone can be a differentiator in a close game.
In Lucknow, Sri Lanka bullied them for half an innings. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood served up a fair few hit-me balls early on, and Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera weren’t about to miss out. Long hops, too short, too much width – the list of bowling indiscretions was enough to fill a page.
When Adam Zampa came on, having passed a late fitness test to be part of the XI, he was far worse. A wretched short-pitched delivery was clubbed for four, and when he then overcompensated, Nissanka calmly stroked him down the ground. As the lone specialist spinner in the ranks, Zampa – who had taken 77 wickets in 37 games between the last World Cup and his one – was meant to be a trump card.
He may not be Warne – who is? – but as one of the few bowlers who had managed to contain the powerful batting line-ups of England and India, much was expected from him, especially on pitches that typically suit the slower bowlers. But Zampa had come into the tournament carrying a variety of niggles, from neck downwards, and a back spasm before this game seemed to have rendered him totally ineffective.
The lengths were inconsistent, there was no zip off the pitch, and Sri Lanka’s bowlers batted with a measure of comfort that bordered on contempt. With the run rate hovering around six an over, a refashioned side with Kusal Mendis as captain seemed well on course for 300 and more.
But followers of Australian cricket will tell you that World Cup campaigns can turn on the smallest things. Back in 1999, needing to beat South Africa at Headingley in order to make the last four ahead of Zimbabwe, Steve Waugh came out to bat in belligerent mood. Usually an innings builder, he bristled with intent from the off, reaching his 50 off just 47 balls.
But with 19 overs and a ball remaining and 120 more to get, Waugh miscued a drive off Lance Klusener. For a fielder of Herschelle Gibbs’s calibre, it was a dolly. But so eager was he to celebrate the key wicket that he threw the ball away before he had full control of it. What Waugh is subsequently supposed to have said – ‘You just dropped the World Cup, mate’ – is likely urban legend, but the reality was that he was there at the end on 120 not out to see his side home with two balls remaining. No South African needs reminding what then happened at Edgbaston a few days later.
In Lucknow on Monday afternoon, it was a catch that flicked the switch for Australia. After absolutely nailing a pull off Pat Cummins, Nissanka went for an encore and didn’t time it as well. David Warner, running in from the fence, had a lot to do, but he timed the run and low grab to perfection. Then, with Sri Lanka still comfortably placed at 165-2, Warner took an even better catch, despite jamming his knee into the ground, to dismiss Mendis.
That gave the lacklustre Zampa a first wicket, and he never looked back. With the first ball of his next over, a slider took out the in-form Sadeera Samarawickrama, and neither Chamika Karunaratne nor Maheesh Theekshana had much clue about the googlies that trapped them in front. After looking as though he was in for another pasting, Zampa finished with figures of 4-47 and the player of the match award.
No one, least of all in the Australian dressing room, is going to get carried away despite the comfortable nature of this win. The manner in which Dilshan Madushanka asked questions of the batters will doubtless have interested Shaheen Shah Afridi, who Australia come up against on Friday. Warner and Steve Smith made no contribution, while Marnus Labuschagne’s 40 was an exercise in grit rather than fluency. The bowling too was insipid for long periods.
But what Sri Lanka have done is give Australia a sniff. The Pakistan game looms large for both sides, but there may just be enough in the Bengaluru pitch to keep both the pacers and Zampa interested. Much work remains to be done, but what those Warner catches did was offer everyone a timely reminder that Australia aren’t done just yet.