Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has slammed Aaron Finch's squad for playing "un-Australian" cricket after the defending champions and event hosts Australia failed to advance beyond the T20 World Cup super 12s.
Follow Us
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has slammed Aaron Finch’s squad for playing “un-Australian” cricket after the defending champions and event hosts Australia failed to advance beyond the T20 World Cup super 12s. Australia ended with seven points in their group, but their loss against New Zealand and a washout against England were the most damaging.
Australia’s hopes of making it to the semifinals were shattered when the match between England and Australia was abandoned due to rain, while England and New Zealand were also vying for a spot in the last 4. The hosts had suffered an 89-run defeat to New Zealand in their opening game which had dented their NRR.
Read More: South Africa vs The Netherlands: Who said what?
To increase their net run rate, the hosts needed to defeat Ireland and Afghanistan by significant margins, but they were only able to do it by a score of 42 runs against Ireland and by a narrow margin of four runs against Afghanistan. In both games, Australia were on top and they had the chance to win by a bigger margin but they let the opportunity slip out of their hands.
“What frustrates me is that I believe they missed a trick against Ireland… and then against Afghanistan, I’m not sure what I was watching.” They seemed to be doing everything they could to defeat Afghanistan. I realize it’s impossible to wipe the floor with a team and maintain that mentality, but they had no choice. “They had to walk out against Afghanistan and say, ‘we’re going to make 200 and bowl you out for 100,’ but they simply didn’t have that aggressiveness, that fire in the belly, and even in the field they seemed a bit sluggish.”
Michael Clarke was quoted as saying on a podcast.
