How Australia veered off course in stuttering World Cup defence

It said a lot about the untidy nature of Australia’s Twenty20 World Cup defence that Glenn Maxwell admitted he found himself trying to “safe slog” with minimal risk during a game in which the hosts were meant to be going all out for net run rate.

If the Australian men’s Twenty20 side has got itself into a position where Maxwell of all people is having to think about playing safe, then there can be little doubt this is a campaign that has veered off course.

Maxwell felt that way because the Adelaide Oval surface was an equitable cricket pitch rather than a road, because Afghanistan bowled death overs of high quality, and because by being demoted to No.6 he had less batting behind him than before.

A similar conglomeration of factors had pushed Australia into this corner. One in which it is certain the team will face plenty of criticism from the lobby that raged against Justin Langer’s exit earlier this year after he declined the option to coach at this event.

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