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Australia has been attempting, along with a number of
other teams, to start the World Cup without suffering any additional
significant setbacks. Despite having to deal with a long injury list, they are
almost there.
The sight of David Warner bowling two overs of long
hops and full tosses against Pakistan—while almost conjuring a wicket that
would have provided him with plenty of social media fodder—reinforced that it’s
risky to read too much into the final stretch of preparation, if a reminder
were needed of how seriously to take the last couple of warm-up matches.
With Adam Zampa serving as basically the second
frontline spinner, Glenn Maxwell is even more important to Australia’s
aspirations of winning another championship. In Hyderabad, he scored an easy 77
off 71 balls, spending a large amount of time in the middle to test the
strength of his previously fractured leg. He then followed it up with a tidy
eight overs.
Then there was Cameron Green’s opportune half-century,
who had been having batting issues for much of the year following the IPL. His
47-ball century for the Mumbai Indians in May was his first fifty since then.
Although his concussion in South Africa interfered
with preparations, he would show up ahead of Marcus Stoinis who has not
appeared in either of the warm-up matches or the last two ODIs against India.
Prior to the event, Alex Carey could have used a good
number of innings, but he was run out for 11. With only one other score over 20
against South Africa, India, and in these two warm-ups, he has been
underwhelming with the bat aside from the 99 he flayed in a lopsided loss at
Centurion.
Australia is unlikely to abandon him, at least early
in the competition, in part because he gives a left-handed option to a batting
order that is predominantly right-handed. Josh Inglis, however, reminded
everyone of his adaptability in the latter stages with a brisk 48 off 30 balls.
Sean Abbott might still be considered if they want to
prolong the batting at position No. 8, but after relying heavily on allrounders
in the lead-up, the main three quicks – captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and
Josh Hazlewood – are expected to line up together. However, with nine
round-robin games and a busy travel schedule, the complete team will probably
be required at some time.