AUS vs SA | Takeaways - Australia's injury woes and Quinton de Kock's dissapointment

AUS vs SA | Takeaways - Australia's injury woes and Quinton de Kock's dissapointment

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South Africa ended their World Cup campaign on a high as they beat Australia by 10 runs, with Faf du Plessis, Rassie Van der Dussen and Kagiso Rabada starring for the Proteas. The result also means that Australia will take England on in the semi-final, while India will face New Zealand.

Quinton de Kock fails to convert - yet again

In the 2015 World Cup, South Africa had unleashed a flamboyant, free-stroking, fearless, baby-faced youngster in the form of Quinton de Kock, who seemed to have the whole world in his hands. The boy could do no wrong, and at one point had an absurd conversion rate, scoring 12 hundreds and 9 fifties the first 21 times he crossed the fifty-run mark. Coming into the 2019 World Cup, he was one of the three key men for the Proteas, along with Rabada and du Plessis.

Fast forward a few years later, and South Africa are now scratching their heads wondering what happened to THAT boy? Shockingly enough, de Kock has converted just two of his last 17 fifty-plus scores into a century, and in this World Cup, has three fifties and no hundreds to his name. Failing to convert starts against England, Pakistan and Afghanistan, de Kock once again threw his wicket away after getting beyond the 50-run mark, trying to take on Nathan Lyon. 

While de Kock’s concentration, endurance and shot selection were one of the strongest aspects of his game a few years ago, they now seem to be his weakest. Be it the ugly heave attempted off Lyon today, or his dismissals against England and Pakistan where he got caught in the deep, there is almost a sense of carelessness from de Kock, ignoring his responsibilities of being one of the pillars of the South African batting lineup. These are worrying signs for both de Kock and South Africa, and they would be desperately hoping for de Kock to find his golden touch once again, as he would indeed be the nucleus of the batting in their quest to rebuild the team post the World Cup.

Nathan Lyon asserts his authority as Australia’s number one spinner

Despite being in the squad, Lyon was always considered to be a mere backup, and probably the fourth bowler in the rare case of Australia fielding two spinners, with Adam Zampa being considered the Number one spinner, thanks to his exceptional display in India. The leggie started the tournament exceptionally well, grabbing three wickets in the first game against Afghanistan. However, three rough outings in the following matches cost Zampa his spot in the XI, with Australia fielding an all-pace attack for their following two matches.

With plenty of left-handers lurking in the English XI, Australia decided to throw Lyon in the XI, and the offie has ever since given Australia the control they desperately needed. Despite the wickets column not reading pretty, Lyon strangled the batsmen in his games against England and New Zealand, utilizing every ounce of help that the surface provided, keeping the batsmen under check. 

Today, Lyon came out to bowl in a rather unusual situation, with South Africa having already blasted their way to 42/0 off the first five overs. However, unmoved by the situation, Lyon went about his business, and by the end of his third over had accounted for the danger man Aiden Markram. Lyon kept hitting the areas consistently, building up pressure, eventually beating Markram off his outside edge and getting him stumped. The New South Wales spinner followed a similar ploy to get rid off a well set de Kock, drawing a false shot from the southpaw. 

In just three matches, Lyon has leapfrogged Zampa as Australia’s lead spinner and has proved today that he is capable of more than just keeping the runs tight. With Australia facing England in the semis, Lyon would have a huge role to play and would be looking to bowl his side into the Final.  

Australia back to square one after Khawaja’s injury

After having finally settled on Usman Khawaja as the Number 3 batsman, Australia are now left red-faced after the left-hander sustained a hamstring injury, subsequently walking off retired hurt in the fifth over, facing just five balls. Despite coming out to bat in the 46th over, the extent of Khawaja's injury is expected to rule him out of the semi-final, effectively meaning that Australia would either need to bring Peter Handscomb as a direct replacement, or draft an external batsman into the squad from the Australia ‘A’ team, be it Matthew Wade or Travis Head. 

This serves as a body blow for the Aussies going into the semis, with Khawaja finally settling into the role, accumulating for two 80+ scores in his last three innings. As a result, they are now back to where they started, with questions looming over selection and batting positions. Do they play Handscomb? Do they bat Smith at three or four? Do they draft in an explosive batsman like Wade who can give them quick runs, or do they go for someone like Head, who can bat longer? Having already lost Shaun Marsh, an injury to Khawaja was the last thing Australia needed, and to their dismay, now head into the semi-final with multiple problems to solve. 

Going into a semi-final with batsmen out of form is one thing, but heading into it without even knowing who would potentially be batting is the stuff of nightmares, and Australia are now left with no option but to take a leap of faith on either Handscomb or the new batsman they will draft in to the squad. While this isn’t the ideal situation they would have hoped for, it’s still not the end of the world, as they would be hoping for their main men - Warner, Finch and Smith - to keep accumulating the runs and keep the winning mantra going.

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