World Cup- Australia V Zimbabwe - 22nd February

There are two comments about the Australian team that make them stand apart as a team. One was in 2003 when a spectator held up a huge banner which said “ I support two teams- South Africa and any other team that plays Australia” and the other came as recently as October 2010 when Gavaskar said “ Any Victory against Australia is satisfactory, because you know that they have given their best in the situation”

Both the statements can be said to  be holding true in 2011 as well. Most of the fans want their team to do well against Australia and they fight with astonishing sinew even when they don’t have those great players

Coming into the 2011 World Cup, Australia have lost the pride of their place to other teams and their opening match was waited with bated breath after their lacklustre performance in the warm-up games

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, a performance from the top order was expected to set the tone for the match. What happened out in the middle was totally contradictory as all the batsmen did get a start but failed to push the scoring rate upwards. The theme for the innings seemed to be “Settle down-Pinch singles- Try to accelerate- Get out”

Every batsman bar Ponting seemed to struggle against the spin bowlers, who bowled 39 overs. Every time the batsmen wanted to break the shackles and step up the scoring rate, they found themselves being dismissed. There was no batsman who was constantly on the attack

It is here that Australia are missing the services of Hussey as not only does he keep the scoring rate moving but he provides variety with the fact that he is a left hander and the bowlers would have adjustments to make for the left-right combination

It took late order cameos from David Hussey and Steve Smith and a fluent half-century by Michael Clarke to add to that of Shane Watson to take Australia to 262. A far from satisfactory batting effort but effective nonetheless

When it was Zimbabwe’s turn to bat, all the eyes were on the pace attack of Australia as they are the only team in the tournament that are depending on all out pace. The bowlers did serve out a warning to the opposition batsmen

After Coventry punished Lee through the smaller square boundaries, the bowler worked the batsman out. He peppered the batsman with short deliveries till Coventry top-edged a pull shot to give him a return catch

Taylor who seemed to be committed to the backfoot was mopped up by sheer pace as he played all over a good length delivery. Other batsmen followed in procession as Johnson mixed good deliveries with menacing one’s

Sean Williams, Utseya and Cremer did offer what seemed like a semblance of resistance but wilted eventually to the pace battery. There was a moment of concern for Australia in the form of the partnership between Utseya and Cremer. The concern was not so much in the fact that they might win it but it was the frustration that they were being stretched

All in all, it seemed a good match to begin the tournament with but to expect free stroking genius from this line-up would be asking for much. With the tougher tests lying ahead for Australia, they would be helped in no measure if their captain comes into his own