ICC World Cup 2019 | There wasn’t much Australia could do, writes Allan Border
Allan Border admits that there wasn’t much the Aussies could have done in the semi final given the flawless performance England put up. But, Border was thrilled at the way Australia have recovered in the last six months, while admitting that he gave them no chance of making it to the semi-final.
When Australia showed up against England at Edgbaston, they expected to at least compete with the hosts. Remember, Australia had already beaten England once in the league stage. However, they proved no match for the English this time, losing the game by a whopping eight wicket margin. The former captain, Border, takes his hat off to a simply outstanding performance by England.
“You have got to give credit where credit is due, England’s performance was absolutely outstanding, and it was a performance that I have been anticipating for a while. I always had a fear in the back of my mind that England would produce their best on the biggest stage. They did just that – and there wasn’t much Australia could do,” Border wrote in a column for ICC, reported Scroll.
Border reckons, and rightly, that once England reduced the Aussies to 27 for three in the first 10 overs, Australia were never really in the game. He noted that he was only disappointed with Alex Carey’s dismissal in the 28th over. However, Border admitted that, in the end, even that might not have made a difference as England chased down Australia’s eventual total of 223 with almost 18 overs to spare.
“The only criticism I might look at would be Alex Carey’s dismissal, an unnecessary shot when Australia were starting to recover. That might have made the difference between a 220 score and 260-270 score but the way it turned out that wouldn’t have been enough either. Australia needed 350 – that’s the bottom line really! England did everything right and thoroughly deserved that win,” Border wrote.
But, the former captain, who led the initial charge of Australian cricket to a period of world domination, said that he was satisfied with the team’s overall performance. He admitted that even he never gave them a chance of making it to the semis.
“If you asked me six months ago if Australia had any chance of making the semi-final I would have said absolutely zero. The way we were playing, we looked outdated and nothing was working for the side, the selectors were trying different combinations and it wasn’t happening. We were a long way off the mark and the turnaround has been quite phenomenal,” Border added.
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