The middle-order nightmare for Australia

IND vs AUS ICC World Cup 2023 final As Australia prepares to lock horns against India in the IND vs AUS ICC World Cup 2023 final at Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday a key aspect to be discussed is the performance of Australian middleorder throughout the tournamentWhile Australia had a dramatic change of fortune following two big losses to India the same cannot really be said for its middleorder lineup featuring Steve Smith Marnus Labuschagne who are the teams anchors and Josh Inglis and Glenn Maxwell the lower middleorder batters who are supposed to attackThe Australian middle order has been highly inconsistent in this tournament In Indian conditions it has often struggled against spinThese aforementioned batters have lost their wickets for a combined 30 times Out of these they have been dismissed a total of 13 times by spinners and 17 by pacersSmith and Labuschagne the players whom this team looks up to for stability and continuation of momentum after fireworks in the first 1020 overs have fallen flat against spin Smith has lost his wicket five out of eight times to spin while Labuschagne has been dismissed by spin four out of eight timesThe ones who were supposed to be Australias most reliable have in fact been the ones to disappoint the most The statistics of Smith and Labuschagne readSmith 298 runs in nine matches average 3725 two fiftiesLabuschagne 304 runs in 10 matches an average of 3377 with two halfcenturies in nine inningsInglis the powerhitter in the team has failed against pacers Seven of his eight dismissals have come against pacers The wicketkeeperbatter has poor numbers in this tournament 159 runs in nine innings at an average of 1987 with one fifty in eight inningsAlso ReadSuper Sunday ShowdownMaxwell has been an exception having gained monumental success so far Though he has lost his wicket thrice to spin out of six dismissals Maxwell atleast has numbers by his sideIn eight innings he has scored 398 runs at an average of 6633 with the fastest World Cup century ever in 40 balls under his belt Maxwell immortalised himself with another masterclass in hitting a brave knock of 201 against Afghanistan during a tense runchase of 292 lifting Australia to a miraculous win from 917Also ReadIndias day of destinyAustralia has struggled in middle overs on some occasions in this tournament The middle overs 1140 overs are a crucial stage where batters are supposed to do plenty of runscoring without losing wickets They are supposed to rely mainly on strike rotation and unleash attacking shots at the right timeIn their leaguestage losses to India and South Africa Australia had poor middleover numbers of 1136 and 1245Australia did score 1745 in middle overs against New Zealand but 57 of them were made briskly by openers David Warner and Travis Head For the rest of 20 overs or so Australia could barely muster 117 runsIn the semifinals against South Africa Australia faced a huge scare by Proteas bowlers and could make 1195 in their middle overs before Starc and Cummins guided them to a winAgainst India Australia will have a tough challenge Not only pacers Mohammed Shami Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj pop up every now and then in middle overs but Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj the two frontline spinners will be unleashed on fivetime champions to choke the run flowWith inputs from agencies