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Australian spinner Ashton Agar’s fitness is a concern
after he missed practise due to soreness and his next opportunity to play
before the World Cup is unknown due to paternity leave, according to stand-in
captain Mitchell Marsh of Australia. South Africa’s spinners exposed
Australia’s side in Potchefstroom under favourable conditions, and Marsh
believes his team will learn a lot from the experience.
Australia was 140 for 1 in the 15th over, needing a
win to wrap up the series against South Africa, but they lost 9 for 87 in less
than 20 overs, falling short by 111 runs. The collapse was started by South
Africa’s left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi and left-arm fingerspinner Keshav
Maharaj, and it included an odd run-out of a shoeless Warner.
Marcus Stoinis’ ongoing lack of runs is still a
concern. Marsh, Marnus Labuschagne, and Stoinis were duped by both Shamsi and
Maharaj who both extracted fast turns. After South Africa’s quicks were
pummelling at over 10 an over in the first 14 overs of the chase, Australia
lost 4 for 43 in a ten-over span where the pair bowled unchanged. Marsh,
though, thought that the Potchefstroom collapse was not a cause for concern.
“Hopefully we learn a lot from it,” Marsh
said at the post-match presentation. “There’s no doubt we’ll be exposed to
those conditions throughout the World Cup and we’ll have to be better. But I
think the last 12 to 18 months, it’s our second loss of that period and we have
generally played spin really well. It’s an area that we’ve thoroughly improved
in. So tonight may be a little slip-up and hopefully we can rectify that in the
next game.”
Australia’s performance in Asia against spin is
concerning. In 2022, they dropped five out of eight ODIs in Sri Lanka and
Pakistan. The losses in Pakistan have nothing to do with spin. However, they
failed a trial by spin in Sri Lanka, where the majority of the damage was
caused by Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, and Dhananjaya de Silva.
Australia’s opening three World Cup games against
India in Chennai, South Africa, and Sri Lanka in Lucknow may feature spinning
pitches.