This ragged Australian side does not look one bit like the one which won the ODI World Cup a record five times. If the loss to India on Sunday night was a shocker, capitulating to the underdogs from South Africa in Lucknow was sheer humiliation.
This is not the script one had envisaged in the ICC World Cup in India. From Chennai to Lucknow, the Aussies may have hoped for some magic to happen. That is just part of the ingredients needed to win an ODI match. On the field, for the Aussies to drop seven catches, display poor body language and suffer a massive loss means the knives are out for Pat Cummins, the captain.
For long, people have talked of South Africa’s inability to peak on the big stage in white-ball cricket. They have been wearing the chokers’ tag. Yet, to have hammered the daylights out of Sri Lanka last week and then to perform an encore against the men from Down Under was a reflection of how they are a side in the ascendant.
So, what is it that the South Africans are doing right and not the Aussies, who have so much experience of winning in this format? First things first, it was not one or two losses that the Aussies have suffered in recent times. They got to feel the heat first in South Africa. On arrival in India, their body language has been poor.
On winning the toss, bowling first seemed a sign that they had read the pitch wrong. This is a re-laid track, one which is hard to read. Yet, the South Africans showed hunger and the ability to satiate their appetite in the afternoon. Quinton de Kock looked most eager to hammer runs, another ton, while Aiden Markram is showing the ability to score runs at a fast and furious pace.
To milk the Aussie attack was so simple, though a score of 311 from the 50 overs looked meagre by recent South African standards. But then, the way their bowlers came out firing was a treat to watch. Pace and spin were the right recipe to make life miserable for the Aussies, whose heroes turned villains. In a match like this, where the Aussies had to get their mojo back, one expected batters like Mitchell Marsh, David Warner and Steve Smith to crank it up. Instead, they stuttered and spluttered against very effective bowling.
If Lungi Ngidi was miserly, then Kagiso Rabada was the destroyer on a mission. His pace and control were a combination which made life miserable for the men in yellow.
The better part was the spin recipe on the menu which the Proteas had prepared. Definitely, against left-arm spin, the Aussies have some mental block. In Chennai, Ravindra Jadeja choked them. In Lucknow, Keshav Maharaj was the man who worried them. Add Tabraiz Shamsi, wily and mean, to the mix, and Australia were flummoxed. What was appalling for those who have watched Australian cricketers across different generations was how this side showed no pluck. They look like a wan imitation of the ones who have sported the Baggy Green and Sunny Yellow caps with pride. Even though it was late night in India and the next day had begun in Australia, social media was ablaze. Australians can be ruthless when their team does not show a spine.
Two bad losses and two flop shows are hard to digest. Maybe, the captain will face more headaches. When a family emergency compelled Cummins to fly back home during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series earlier this year, there was support for him. This time, there are no such mitigating factors. Tough tests against India and South Africa were always on the cards. That the results would be so poor is sobering.