Making good on his vow to go after the bowlers, Mitch Marsh helped get Australia's campaign back on track
'Come on!': Marsh underlines World Cup drive
A fist pump to the dressing rooms accompanied by the words "come on!".
That was Mitch Marsh's emotional response as he brought up his maiden World Cup half-century with Australia's pursuit of 210 off to a flyer in Lucknow.
It was an illustration of just how much the fast start meant to the Australians, after their batters had misfired in their opening two matches of the tournament.
Following scores of 0 and 7 in losses to India and South Africa, Marsh's counter-punching hand came as his side slipped to 2-24 after losing stalwarts David Warner and Steve Smith in the same Dilshan Madushanka over.
The allrounder had sent the first ball of the chase from Lahiru Kumara soaring over mid-off's head with a crisp punched drive.
And he punished anything remotely short from Sri Lankan spinners Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage.
Although he was run out after misjudging a second run, Marsh showed an intent he had vowed to restore, admitting pre-match it had been missing in the first two games.
"We came into the game with a little bit of pressure after the slow start, but our experienced guys stood up today," Marsh told broadcaster Star Sports following Australia’s five-wicket win.
"I felt like I was batting well tonight and I probably got ahead of myself (on the run out). The boys were calm and the way we finished it off was great.
"Hopefully, that's a stepping stone for us in the right direction.”
Australia's 2-64 was easily their best Powerplay of the tournament, and the sixth best overall from the 14 matches so far, with 45 of those runs coming off Marsh's blade.
Despite the early wickets, it was an improvement on the 1-43 against India and the 3-50 against South Africa. With the World Cup's average Powerplay score sitting at 1-55, it puts them closer to the teams at the top of the standings.
Finding some consistency in the first 10 overs will be at the top of Australia's wish list. Strong starts with the bat have been a major factor in World Cup success.
Across the past three editions of the tournament, the two best Powerplay sides have made the final on each occasion, with the one exception being New Zealand in 2019.
By the time Marsh departed against Sri Lanka, the job was far from done but the required run rate had dropped from 4.2 to 3.63.
With less pressure to score quickly, the middle order spent valuable time at the crease as Marnus Labuschagne (40), Josh Inglis (58) and Glenn Maxwell (31no) got Australia over the line.
"Marnus does what Marnus does and he made guys like Josh Inglis' job a lot easier," Adam Zampa told reporters.
"(They) obviously put the bowlers under the pump straightaway.
"It changes the momentum – instead of having that attacking feeling when you're bowling to a new batter, that kind makes you just go straight back to the defensive stuff."
Australia's win with 88 balls to spare has given them an invaluable net run-rate boost, which climbed from -1.846 to -0.734.
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: Beat Sri Lanka by five wickets
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 | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
IND
|
9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.261 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
AUS
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.841 | 0 | 14 |
|
4
NZ
|
9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.743 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
PAK
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.199 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
AFG
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.336 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
ENG
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.572 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
BAN
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.087 | 0 | 4 |
|
9
SL
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.419 | 0 | 4 |
|
10
NED
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.825 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points