Last Updated on 10 months ago by Charbel Coorey

Cricket News: 3 reasons why Australia are failing when chasing | Why are Australia failing to chase before the T20 World Cup?

If any team is considered a strong contender for victory in an ICC event, it is Australia. They know how to win big moments and major events.

This is the reason why Australia has five World Cup titles and two Champions Trophies in ODIs, along with one T20 World Cup title which they won last year.  The defending champions are hosting the 2022 T20 World Cup in their own backyard, and their experience of winning matches at home will play a vital role.

Regarded as among the most ruthless teams in world cricket, Australia is blessed with quality players in their ranks, each possessing the ability to win matches single-handedly. However, the team has struggled to win games consistently in the 20-over format this year. They lost a closely contested bilateral series in India, and then lthough they defeated a struggling West Indies in the two-match series, they failed to replicate the same against the visiting England team.

Why have Australia struggled to win when chasing in the lead up to the World Cup?

The series defeat at home just prior to the World Cup highlighted some fragility in the Australian batting line-up, particularly in the middle order. In their last bilateral series against England, they lost the first two T20Is chasing a total from winning positions, and were set for another defeat while hunting down a total in the last T20I before rain interrupted proceedings.

Despite having a strong and star-studded batting line-up, the Aaron Finch-led side has not been able to chase down totals which is a field of concern for the defending champions. In this article, we look at the three main reasons why Australia has struggled to chase down totals in recent T20Is.

Losing a cluster of wickets

The primary reason for Australia’s struggle in run chases has been the lack of partnerships. When a wicket falls, one or two more wickets fall right after that.

Irrespective of the format you play, forging partnerships is always crucial to keep the tempo going, especially when chasing. Take the example of Australia’s last T20I game. They were chasing a big total of 130 in 12 overs of a rain-affected match. In the process, the team lost three wickets inside three overs. In previous matches, they lost key wickets heading into those all important death overs.

If Australia wants to reclaim their title, the batters need to take greater responsibility while batting in the second innings.

Wade’s recent struggle to close off games

A year ago, Matthew Wade coolly smashed Pakistan’s pace bowling spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi for three sixes in the penultimate over to seal the memorable semi-final win. Ever since, Wade has donned the hat of a designated finisher in the team.

What makes his rise even more remarkable is the way Wade has adapted to a role that seemed alien to him prior to the T20 World Cup last year. Wade’s effect on the team can be reflected by the fact that Australia never lost a T20I in which he remained unbeaten, until the second T20I between Australia and England recently in Canberra.

In two consecutive games against England, Wade failed to take his team home while chasing, struggling against deliveries bowled at his hip. Australian supporters would be pinning their hopes on Wade to turn the tables and help his team hunt down totals in the showpiece event.

Glenn Maxwell’s dip in form

There has been a reshuffle in Australia’s batting lineup. Since the addition of power-hitting batter Tim David, Glenn Maxwell has earned a promotion in the order.

His promotion was justified by his exploits in the last two editions of the IPL. Before David’s inclusion, Maxwell used to bat at 4 or 5 but going into the World Cup and keeping the balance of the side in mind, Australia will fix Maxwell at 4.

However, Maxwell has not been able to do justice to the batting promotion. The swashbuckling batter has experienced an alarming dip in form with the bat this year and has failed to register a double-digit score in his last seven T20I innings. This year, he has scored 197 runs at a poor average of 15.15 and strike rate of 113.87. In the run-chases, he failed to register a single 50+ score, which has been a big concern for the Aussies.

Australia bank heavily on Maxwell to take care of the middle-overs, and the all-rounder has struggled. However, things can turn around quickly, especially for a player of Maxwell’s caliber. The rise of Mitchell Marsh at 3 and the luxury of having power hitters like Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, and Matthew Wade in the middle-lower order can give Maxwell the liberty to play his natural attacking brand of cricket.

If it comes off, Australia will be hard to beat.