After a string of missed opportunities David Warner's fielding turned things around for Australia
'Bulldog' Warner's standards prove catching catalyst
Australia's World Cup campaign had just about reached its tipping point.
With Sri Lanka cruising at 0-125 in the 22nd over in Lucknow, Aussie captain Pat Cummins had just brought himself back into the attack and been crunched to the leg-side boundary by a Pathum Nissanka pull shot.
Nissanka saw the short ball early and sent it rocketing to the left of David Warner who was patrolling the rope at deep mid-wicket.
Sri Lanka were on track for their third 300-plus score in as many matches and were in a position to pile the pressure on the still winless Australians.
Unperturbed, with the next ball Cummins tried the short ball again.
The Sri Lankan opener couldn't resist the temptation of repeating the result of the ball prior.
Nissanka hit it well, but he couldn't keep it down. Warner hared around to his left once more, this time sensing he was in the game.
After sprinting 20 metres, Warner dived forward and held the catch, before tossing the ball over his head and expelling a visible sigh of relief.
With the side's lacklustre fielding efforts from the first two World Cup matches attracting scrutiny during the week, Warner's grab would prove the catching catalyst.
After five dropped catches against South Africa and another two (albeit very difficult) chances missed in the opening stages against Sri Lanka, Australia took their next three opportunities in the field following the Warner catch.
One of which was another by the Australian opener, perhaps an even better catch in the same position at deep mid-wicket, to remove Sri Lanka's stand-in captain and dangerman Kusal Mendis off the spin of Adam Zampa.
And Warner says results in the field come down largely to mindset.
"I pride myself on my fitness," Warner told reporters following Australia's five-wicket win over Sri Lanka.
"I keep taking the mickey out of a lot of the guys here. I'm almost 37 and running around like a little bulldog in the outfield.
"It comes down to attitude. And that's what fielding is.
"You get 10 pieces of laundry, (so) dive around, throw yourself around and try and take those match-winning catches that can turn the game.
"I'd rather commit to that and it go for four when I'm trying to take a catch or save a boundary. It's a non-negotiable."
Australia's catching percentage leading into the Sri Lanka match was only 66.7 per cent in ODIs in 2023, some 20 per cent lower than the world leaders South Africa.
Allrounder Glenn Maxwell conceded the dewy conditions in Chennai made fielding difficult under lights and Warner says the dropped catches haven't been due to a lack of effort.
"I think in Chennai before the Indian game, we actually fielded for an hour and a half before the match," Warner said.
"And obviously it didn't go plan in the second game, dropping seven catches.
"But we've put a lot of effort into our training to make sure that we're holding those catches under lights as well."
Australia's next match is against Pakistan on Friday, a day-night clash in Bengaluru, which will be the first match of the tournament at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
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