Marsh out to rectify Australia's slow start

14 Oct 2023 Jack Paynter, in Lucknow

The Australians have looked "flat" in their opening losses, says their former captain Aaron Finch

'We find ourselves in a corner': Marsh

Mitch Marsh has vowed to put pressure back on opposing bowlers after a tough start to the World Cup that has yielded just seven runs from 21 balls faced in Australia's two heavy defeats to start the tournament.

Australia's opening partnership, which has been combinations of David Warner, Marsh and the injured Travis Head at various times this year, has been crucial to team success, with the nation winning only one ODI in 2023 when the first wicket stand was less than 50.

Australia's only win since Marsh returned to the top of the order after Head fractured his left hand against South Africa last month was when he and Warner put on 78 to help beat India in the third ODI in Rajkot prior to the World Cup, where the West Australian hit 96, his second-highest score in the format.

The 31-year-old has come up against two of world cricket's strongest new ball attacks in the opening two games of the tournament, nicking off to India spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for a duck in the six-wicket loss to the hosts in Chennai before skying a leading edge off Marco Jansen as Australia sunk to a record World Cup loss of 134 runs against South Africa in Lucknow.

While head coach Andrew McDonald lamented after the second loss his side had "relied on top order starts to get the big total", Marsh said he and David Warner also needed to rectify their opening partnership when Australia next face Sri Lanka on Monday.

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"I still feel really good, it's obviously been a tough start personally," Marsh told reporters in Lucknow where Australia will also play their third match of the tournament against the neighbouring subcontinent nation.

"The other night (it) was tough conditions, and I probably wasn't able to put pressure back on the bowlers, which is a strength of mine, certainly in the Powerplay.

"I'll certainly be looking to be doing that.

"And 'Davey' (Warner) and I haven't got off to a partnership yet, which really helps set up our innings so that’s something we need to rectify and hopefully that's this game."

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Australia's scoring rate in the first 10 overs of their innings has fallen dramatically in their first two games of the World Cup. Their batting strike rate in the Powerplay is 76.86 so far this tournament compared to 125.45 in 11 one-day internationals in 2023 prior to the 50-over showpiece.

Part of that has been down to the loss of wickets with Marsh out in the first six overs in both games, while Warner also fell inside the Powerplay against India. Conditions have also played a role with Chennai and Lucknow both offering plenty of assistance to the quicks with the new ball.

Australia, meanwhile, have struggled recently to take wickets with the new ball. While they had India 3-2 inside two overs in the opening match, Proteas openers Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma put on 108 for the first wicket after being sent in by Pat Cummins.

Aussies search for answers in 'most important' period

Outside of that first match against the hosts in Chennai, Australia have only taken an average of one wicket per match in the first 10 overs in 2023. Their 15 wickets in the Powerplay period is the second lowest of the 10 nations competing at the World Cup, ahead of only Afghanistan on 13.

Aaron Finch – who was captain of Australia's ODI side just over a year ago before his retirement – said the side's body language was "quite flat" to begin the tournament.

Finch has watched both performances closely in his commentary role for host broadcaster and said Australia needed a way to "freshen up, mentally and physically" after a gruelling 10-game lead in to the World Cup.

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"With the ball, they are a bit standoffish, they are waiting for things to happen and that can become contagious among the group as well," the 36-year-old told ESPNcricinfo's Match Day show.

"The tone was set early on and it hasn't recovered yet.

"The South African fielders were really tight in the ring … they were all hustling in. I know the (Australian) batters felt a lot of pressure because they couldn't get off strike.

"On the flip side, Australia has been very standoffish, they have been hanging back on the ring, and it just allowed South Africa's new batters to get into their innings. Maybe that's more a mindset change than anything tactical."

Australia have dropped the most catches (6) of any team so far at this year's World Cup and have been uncharacteristically sloppy in the field in their two matches, with several misfields and five missed chances against South Africa last Thursday.

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Marsh also dropped Virat Kohli on 12 in their opening match on Sunday, with the Indian superstar going on to punish the Aussies with 85 in a match-winning stand of 165 with KL Rahul.

"(Fielding) has been a hallmark of every good cricketing team, especially the Australian cricket team and it's something as a group we're really proud of," Marsh said.

"There's no doubt we've been off the mark with that in the first couple of games.

"We've got to be excited about rectifying that, playing a really exciting brand of cricket and hopefully bringing back a bit of energy in the field.

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"We've obviously all reviewed (the loss to South Africa), took time yesterday to get together and talk about the areas we need to improve on, but for me it's pretty simple – we need to take more wickets and score more runs.

"The most important thing about tournament play is moving on to the next game very quickly. We know exactly what's ahead of us now, it's going to be a big challenge, but we'll certainly be up for it."

Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures

October 8: Lost to India by six wickets

October 12: Lost to South Africa by 134 runs

October 16: v Sri Lanka, Lucknow (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 20: v Pakistan, Bengaluru (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 25: v Netherlands, Delhi (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 28: v New Zealand, Dharamsala, 4pm AEDT

November 4: v England, Ahmedabad (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

November 7: v Afghanistan, Mumbai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

November 11: v Bangladesh, Pune, 4pm AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

2023 World Cup standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Net Run Rate NRR	Total points PTS
1 India Men IND	9	9	0	2.57	18
2 South Africa Men SA	9	7	2	1.261	14
3 Australia Men AUS	9	7	2	0.841	14
4 New Zealand Men NZ	9	5	4	0.743	10
5 Pakistan Men PAK	9	4	5	-0.199	8
6 Afghanistan Men AFG	9	4	5	-0.336	8
7 England Men ENG	9	3	6	-0.572	6
8 Bangladesh Men BAN	9	2	7	-1.087	4
9 Sri Lanka Men SL	9	2	7	-1.419	4
10 Netherlands Men NED	9	2	7	-1.825	4

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points

FULL VERSION INCLUDING WARM-UPS AND FINALS BELOW