Michael Clarke pivotal for Australia against spin bowling as they prepare to face New Zealand
After an impressive win over Zimbabwe in their opening World Cup match, the defending champions http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Vidarbha-c860 Cricket Association ground in Nagpur, a venue that almost saw a shock defeat to England against the Dutch on Tuesday.
The Aussies have a major headache to deal with: their inability to play spin effectively. In the match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045, the defending champions were tied down for a major portion of the innings and posted a below par total of 262 batting first. The minnows failed to chase a total, which was otherwise considered gettable.
The job of negotiating the spinners successfully is centered on Vice-captain Michael Clarke who is hailed as the best Aussie batsman against slow bowling. He thinks that his team would have to deal with a bombardment of slow bowling in their upcoming matches as their weakness was exposed at Motera.
“I would be very surprised if we don't get 20 to 30 overs of spin from any team,” http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 said. “I guess it's an area of our game where we continue to try and improve [because it] probably slows our scoring the most. It's an area we're individually all working on. In these conditions, how you play spin and how you bowl spin is going to play a huge part in this tournament.”
The tie against New Zealand is being staged on a much better wicket at Nagpur, where the lowly ranked Dutch posted a total of 292 batting first against England.
Clarke thinks that the Kiwis are going to employ spin options early on in the innings in a bid to choke the aggressive batting line-up. The man that Clarke and the rest of the batters would be threatened by most is the Kiwi captain Daniel Vettori.
“Daniel Vettori, the captain, is a very good bowler and has had a lot of success around the world. I'd imagine he'd be one of the best bowlers in these conditions throughout this tournament,” Clarke said. “My role, batting at No.4 in these conditions, is about consolidating through the middle.”
One stat would be comforting for the Aussies: the four time World Champions have had the wood over the bespectacled Vettori who has a poor average of 39.83 against the Australians.
However over the past few years the Aussies have played out his quota of overs with respect and have gone helter-skelter against the weaker bowlers. More of the same is expected in the Nagpur tie.
The Aussies would have to draw a strategy and figure out options other than complete reliance on Clarke; nothing can be taken as guaranteed as one good ball can end Clarke’s reign at the crease. The other batsmen would have to step up to the plate and nullify the threat of the slower bowlers.
The Kangaroos, given their stature, would be entering the next match with a positive frame of mind regardless, and have no cobwebs despite their historical struggle against the turning ball.
Tags: