New Delhi, Oct 17 Former Australian cricketer Bryce McGain lavished praise on Australia for their remarkable turnaround in their ICC Men's Cricket World Cup campaign with an impressive victory over Sri Lanka.
Winless over the first two matches of the showpiece event, Australia were staring at the barrel of a third straight defeat on Monday as Sri Lanka put on 125 runs for the opening partnership.
However, some inspired bowling from Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins restricted the Asian side to 209 in 43.4 overs and successfully chased down Sri Lanka's modest total with over 14 overs remaining.
“It was looking a little tense. (Early wickets) are something Australia would be looking to improve on (and) it’s a problem throughout this whole campaign. They were able to fight back and it was on the back of some really good, sustained and intense fielding efforts," McGain said on SEN 1170.
"They were previously criticised for being too tired, looking exhausted and lacking interest but it certainly wasn’t the case this time. It got them back in the game and it was really good to see," he said.
Zampa has been grappling with a dip in form, a challenge compounded by being the sole specialist spinner in the squad. Despite a rough start, he managed to overcome a lackluster opening spell and showcased resilience when his country required his performance.
The 31-year-old's exceptional performance with figures of 4-47 earned him the Player of the Match award, crucially shifting the momentum in favor of Australia.
"It was a welcome return to form. He has been really struggling, even in the warm-up games but it was pleasing to see him spin the ball up and over a bit more rather than try to fire it in. His wrong-un came out beautifully and that got a number of the LBW decisions as he kept attacking the stumps," McGain added.
The five-time champions will now travel to Bangalore to take on Pakistan on October 20.
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