Kingstown: Australia captain Mitchell Marsh has expressed confidence in his side bouncing back in a do-or-die Super Eights match against an unbeaten India after suffering a surprise 21-run defeat to Afghanistan, which has left their semifinal hopes in jeopardy.
“We have a lot of belief in our group. We are a very good cricket team. Yes, tonight we had an off night, but I guess there’s also a positive in the fact that in 36 hours we go again. I think if you look back at the short history of this team, I know for a fact that it brings out the best in our guys, so the boys will certainly be up and about for it.
“It’s all about trusting ourselves. We’ve got a good bunch of people and I believe our best is up there with the best. So, we need to bring that on whatever day it is in a couple of days’ time and move forward pretty quickly,” said Marsh in the post-match press conference.
Australia also endured a poor fielding day as they dropped five catches, as well as a stumping missed by Matthew Wade, and conceding lots of misfields, which Marsh admitted wasn’t ideal at all.
“There’s a lot of things you can look at, the reality is there’s small margins here when the scores are low. We certainly pride ourselves on our fielding. Can’t question the boys putting in the work. I think it’s no different to any other skill set. We put in the work, we didn’t execute in the field tonight and ultimately it played a part in us losing the game.
“I think we don’t want to have too many off nights in the field but I also believe that at our best we’re an unbelievable fielding side so it’s easy to look at tonight. Yes, it was disappointing but ultimately, we have 36 hours to turn it around and I still believe that our best is very good in the field,” he added.
Another decision made by Australia which has caused a lot of chatter is of omitting Mitchell Starc and bringing in left-arm spin all-rounder Ashton Agar in a bid to make the most out of spin-friendly conditions in St Vincent.
“Any time you make a decision like that, Starcy’s unlucky in a sense. But we’ve said right from the start of the tournament that we’ve got 15 guys here and we’ll pick a team that we think can win us the game in those certain conditions.
“Everything pointed towards Ash tonight and I thought he did a brilliant job. Four overs, one for (17). He was outstanding. The reality is when you’ve got this much talent, someone’s always unlucky to miss out. I don’t think the game was won or lost in the Powerplay tonight,” concluded Marsh.
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