Former Australia National Cricket Team batter Matthew Hayden and legendary South Africa National Cricket Team pacer Dale Steyn slammed Pat Cummins & Co. for their conservative and defensive approach in the WTC Final.
Matthew Hayden and Dale Steyn opined that the defensive tactics of captain Pat Cummins on Day 3 of the ICC World Test Championship Final put Australia on the back foot against South Africa.
Also Read: Aiden Markram blocked Temba Bavuma from retiring hurt in the WTC Final against Pat Cummins and Co. despite injury
Australia entered as favorites in the ICC World Test Championship Final against South Africa at the Lord's Cricket Ground in London. The Aussies rarely lose the finals of the multi-nation tournaments, and they once again performed like champions, particularly on the first two days of the WTC Final.
Being invited to bat first, the Aussie batting unit ended up scoring 212 runs in 56.4 overs. The bowlers made up for the below-par performance of the batters and bundled out the Proteas for 138 in 57.1 overs.
In their second innings with the bat, the top-order batters of Australia once again failed, and they were reduced to 73/7. However, they once again bounced back and posted 207 runs on the board, giving South Africa a 282-run target.
Australia started well with the ball in the fourth innings, dismissing Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder early, but from thereon, things went downhill for them. Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma took control and played brilliant innings.
The Aussies changed their tactics after picking two wickets and were hoping for Bavuma and Markram to make a mistake, but that didn't happen, and Pat Cummins even had to pull back fielders from catching positions and place them in deep areas to stop the ball from going past the boundary.
You know, this defensive effort here from Australia - Matthew Hayden slams Pat Cummins
Speaking after the end of the play on Day 3, the Aussie great Matthew Hayden ripped into Pat Cummins and his team for their defensive effort.
"You know, this defensive effort here from Australia, it was all about how they were going to take wickets and how they were going to do that early,” he said as quoted by Hindustan Times.
“You know, when they got through to Mulder, they got through Rickelton, and they had to put at that point pressure on Bavuma. They had to put those catching cover areas, had to be less defensive, more attacking. Can you imagine if those first couple of balls had been chipped up? South Africa, now it's three down. Australia got control of the match. So for me, that was a trick.
"The drifting of the nature of the game just allowed the rotation of strike, allowed that partnership to grow and build in confidence, and it just got away from the Australian bowling lineup. Yes, it's flat conditions, but you must take 10 wickets to defend the World Test Championship. You must take the top three out of play."
Yeah, a little bit surprised - Dale Steyn
Proteas pace-bowling legend Dale Steyn was also shocked by the tactics that Pat Cummins & Co. used on Day 3 and slammed the skipper for not keeping an aggressive fielding setup.
“Yeah, a little bit surprised, I think. You know, you have to adapt with the flow of the game, and obviously today, we've seen the ball has been keeping really low, it hasn't really managed to make it to the slips, even from yesterday.
"And, you know, whenever we used to play, I would play a place like India, your short cover, short midwicket, it doesn't matter. They're as good as cordon slips in South Africa or Australia or something like that. So on days like this, when the ball is not travelling and it's not making its way to the slips, you have to have those guys in those kinds of catching positions."
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