Warner's highest score in the last five ODIs is 35. © AFP
Australia find themselves in a precariously delicate situation heading into their oddly-timed limited-overs series against New Zealand, barely days after touching down from another short assignment in South Africa. They've been invincible in the home season thus far, winning five of the six (one washed out) T20Is against Sri Lanka and Pakistan and then running through each of the five Tests - against Pakistan and New Zealand.
Amidst this home run though, the kind of which they haven't experienced since 2009-10, they've had a very shaky time in the 50-over format, albeit away at home. Since their 10-wicket drubbing of India at Mumbai on January 14, Australia have lost five ODIs on the bounce. Admittedly, ODIs may not be the flavour of the season, but their ODI showdown against their Tasman neighbours arrives at the confluence of contrasting results. Where New Zealand whitewashed India 3-0, Australia lost by a similar margin on their trip to South Africa.
While Australia are trying to nail down the composition of the middle-order, David Warner took the onus on himself and his fellow top-order batsmen to set games up. "The only thing I can put it [the losing streak] down to is the top four not scoring the bulk of the runs. You can't do it all the time but at least one of us (has to) go on and be there at the end," Warner said two days out from the series opener in Sydney. "It is disappointing but at the end of the day we've got to keep trying to get better at that, try to find a balance with our batting through the middle as well," he added.
Incidentally, Warner himself hasn't passed 35 in any of the five ODIs since scoring an unbeaten 128 at the Wankhede Stadium. In that time, Steve Smith (in Bengaluru) and Marnus Labuschagne (in Potchefstroom) have scored hundreds but have been outdone by a collective performances from the opposition. "Marnus showed that application the other day in Potch. Obviously, it was a big occasion for him going back home for the first time and playing in his home town It was awesome to see him get that hundred but if you look back at the last 10 one-day games against South Africa, we've won one."
Matthew Wade, who was part of the touring contingent in South Africa but continues to wait to return to ODI cricket since last playing in 2017, echoed Warner's deconstruction of the team's ODI maladies. "They (South Africa) had a lot of guys out and quite an inexperienced team and they did the basics a lot better than we did," Wade said.
"They had guys get hundreds and bat the whole way through. If you get someone to do that in one-day cricket you win more games than not. We've got to strip it back and make sure we're doing the basics really, really well in this series. New Zealand are a very disciplined cricket team and we know they will do it well. We've got to make sure one of the top four really bats through and makes a big hundred and in Australia we back our power towards the end on pretty true wickets. It'll be nice to see if one of the top order can go through and bat the whole innings, that would be very helpful," he added.
Australia find themselves in a precariously delicate situation heading into their oddly-timed limited-overs series against New Zealand, barely days after touching down from another short assignment in South Africa. They've been invincible in the home season thus far, winning five of the six (one washed out) T20Is against Sri Lanka and Pakistan and then running through each of the five Tests - against Pakistan and New Zealand.
Amidst this home run though, the kind of which they haven't experienced since 2009-10, they've had a very shaky time in the 50-over format, albeit away at home. Since their 10-wicket drubbing of India at Mumbai on January 14, Australia have lost five ODIs on the bounce. Admittedly, ODIs may not be the flavour of the season, but their ODI showdown against their Tasman neighbours arrives at the confluence of contrasting results. Where New Zealand whitewashed India 3-0, Australia lost by a similar margin on their trip to South Africa.
While Australia are trying to nail down the composition of the middle-order, David Warner took the onus on himself and his fellow top-order batsmen to set games up. "The only thing I can put it [the losing streak] down to is the top four not scoring the bulk of the runs. You can't do it all the time but at least one of us (has to) go on and be there at the end," Warner said two days out from the series opener in Sydney. "It is disappointing but at the end of the day we've got to keep trying to get better at that, try to find a balance with our batting through the middle as well," he added.
Incidentally, Warner himself hasn't passed 35 in any of the five ODIs since scoring an unbeaten 128 at the Wankhede Stadium. In that time, Steve Smith (in Bengaluru) and Marnus Labuschagne (in Potchefstroom) have scored hundreds but have been outdone by a collective performances from the opposition. "Marnus showed that application the other day in Potch. Obviously, it was a big occasion for him going back home for the first time and playing in his home town It was awesome to see him get that hundred but if you look back at the last 10 one-day games against South Africa, we've won one."
Matthew Wade, who was part of the touring contingent in South Africa but continues to wait to return to ODI cricket since last playing in 2017, echoed Warner's deconstruction of the team's ODI maladies. "They (South Africa) had a lot of guys out and quite an inexperienced team and they did the basics a lot better than we did," Wade said.
"They had guys get hundreds and bat the whole way through. If you get someone to do that in one-day cricket you win more games than not. We've got to strip it back and make sure we're doing the basics really, really well in this series. New Zealand are a very disciplined cricket team and we know they will do it well. We've got to make sure one of the top four really bats through and makes a big hundred and in Australia we back our power towards the end on pretty true wickets. It'll be nice to see if one of the top order can go through and bat the whole innings, that would be very helpful," he added.