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Hayden, Steyn criticise Cummins' captaincy as South Africa inch closer to WTC victory:
Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden and South African legend Dale Steyn have explained how Pat Cummins' poor captaincy allowed South Africa to take control of the WTC Final at Lord's. read more
Australian captain Pat Cummins is facing criticism from former opener Matthew Hayden and South African great Dale Steyn as the Proteas have taken control of the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Lord's. Australia were in the ascendancy after handing over a target of 282 to South Africa.
They started strongly on Day 3, taking the wickets of Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder but adopted a defensive approach once captain Temba Bavuma came in to bat. Despite Bavuma struggling with a hamstring injury , Cummins deployed a spread out field setup that allowed him to put up an unbeaten 143-run partnership with Aiden Markram. South Africa are now only 69 runs away from winning the WTC final.
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Hayden, Steyn slam Australia and Cummins's defensive approach
Hayden wasn't happy with the defensive tactics preferred by Cummins as he blaster the captain for playing it safely.
'You know, this defensive effort here from Australia, it was all about how they were going to take wickets and how they were going to do that early,' Hayden said after Day 3.
'You know, when they got through to Mulder, they got through Rickelton, and they had to put at that point pressure on Bavuma. They had to put those catching cover areas, had to be less defensive, more attacking. Can you imagine if those first couple of balls had been chipped up? South Africa now it's three down. Australia got control of the match. So for me, that was a trick.
'The drifting of the nature of the game just allowed the rotation of strike, allowed that partnership to grow and build in confidence, and it just got away from the Australian bowling lineup. Yes, it's flat conditions, but you must take 10 wickets to defend the World Test Championship. You must take the top three out of play,' he added.
Former South Africa cricketer Steyn was also surprised that Australia did not opt for close-in fielders when bowling started to become tough.
'Yeah, a little bit surprised, I think. You know, you have to adapt with the flow of the game, and obviously today, we've seen the ball has been keeping really low, it hasn't really managed to make it to the slips, even from yesterday. And, you know, whenever we used to play, I would play a place like India, your short cover, short midwicket, it doesn't matter.
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'They're as good as cordon slips in South Africa or Australia or something like that. So on days like this, when the ball is not travelling and it's not making its way to the slips, you have to have those guys in those kinds of catching positions,' he said.
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Hindustan Times
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