Kingstown [St Vincent], : Following a setback against Afghanistan that left Australia speechless at Arnos Vale Ground here, captain Mitchell Marsh has issued a warning to his teammates ahead of their final clash in the Super 8 against unbeaten India.
The spirited performance from Afghanistan left Australia in a peculiar situation. Australia will now step into Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in Saint Lucia to face India in a must-win game.
With the Baggy Greens looking to bounce back from their recent setback, Marsh emphasized the need to win against India.
“First and foremost, it becomes clear for us. We need to win, and no better team to do it against. Full credit to Afghanistan for tonight, and we move on quickly,” Marsh said in the post-match presentation.
Things didn’t fall in place for Australia as they looked to sneak away a win and seal their place in the semi-final.
Catches were dropped, and a couple of misfields led to boundaries. Ashton Agar misjudging the ball as it went away for a four was one such example of their struggle.
It eventually came back to haunt Australia as a couple of errors in the field allowed Afghanistan to put 148/6 on the board.
“They got 20 too many. And to be honest, they played a really good game of cricket. We were outplayed tonight,” Marsh added.
Marsh won the toss and decided to bowl. Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan admitted that they wanted to bat because the record indicated chasing a target on the surface was a taxing job.
“We did think about it. A lot of teams have bowled first at this World Cup to get an idea of the surface. Don’t think we lost at the toss. It was an off-night for us in the field, and we own that. We’ll be back next game. It wasn’t an easy wicket, but both teams played on this surface,” Marsh concluded.
With their fate hanging in balance, Australia will face India at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, Saint Lucia, on Monday to fight for their semi-final spot.
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