Australia going through worst spell in one-dayers

MUMBAI: Australia’s horrid form in the 50-over format continued on Sunday as they crashed to a six-wicket loss against South Africa at Perth for their seventh consecutive defeat in ODIS — their worst streak ever. Their disastrous run had begun at this very ground, earlier this year, when they had lost to England to concede the five-match series 1-4. to get hammered 0-5 in the ODI format. It also saw their ranking stoop to a lowly No 6.

Skittled for just 152, Australia hit a new low on Sunday, worse than their six-game losing streak in 1996 when they were beaten in the final of Singer World Series by Sri Lanka before losing five of their six games of 1996 Titan Cup against India and South Africa (one game was abandoned.

However, this isn’t the first time that Australian fans have had to bear the ignominy of their side’s poor form. Their ongoing disastrous run began in 2016 when they were blanked 0-5 by South Africa in an away series, their first whitewash in a fivematch bilateral ODI series. Since then, Australia have lost four games on the trot twice.

THE GLORIOUS PAST

The slide contrasts for a side that has won four of the last five World Cups. Their rise in ODI format started in the mid ’80s and although they won the 1987 World Cup, the most feared lot emerged in mid ‘90s. They did suffer a bit of a slump after Sri Lanka beat them in 1996 final, but with a battery of fast bowlers and a star-studded batting line-up, they completed a hat-trick of World Cup wins between 1999 and 2007 under Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.

Australia’s unmatched run of 34 consecutive wins in the World Cup shows how dominant they were and how far they have fallen.

REASONS FOR DEBACLE

A major factor for Australia’s dismal show has been their batting, which has suffered in the absence of former skipper Steve Smith and David Warner — both banned for their role in the ball tampering saga.

In the past 21 matches, of which Australia have managed to win just two, the five-time world champions have tried out as many as six opening pairs. Warner featured in three of them — the 32-year-old was paired with Aaron Finch, Travis Head and Hilton Cartwright in 13 matches.

In the absence of Warner, Finch, Head and D’arcy Short have opened the innings in the last six games but have only one century stand on board. In comparison, Shaun Marsh has been impressive as a No 3 in the absence of Smith, scoring two centuries in four of those games, but sat out of Sunday’s game owing to a minor surgery.

Their bowling department hasn’t been up to the mark as well. Only on six occasions of these 21 games have Australians managed to clean up the opposition. As a result, in 11 of those matches, the opposition has posted totals of more than 280 , of which Australia managed to win just one. Two of the best bowlers of the current lot — Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood — were part of the side that was whitewashed in the five-game series by South Africa in 2016.

AUSTRALIA’S RECORD IN WORLD CUP SHOWS HOW FAR THEY HAVE FALLEN RECENTLY.