worst sporting weekend ever

Matildas, broncos, lions and this

I’m assuming as I wake up, we lost. 

Watched part of the run chase, but had to go to bed. 

yeah far too conservative in chasing

it was the danger a lot of people worried about, stacking the team with accumulators and not enough dashers that we would eventually get monster totals and fail to chase them down

Gday all,
jaszyjim - 
Fell asleep through parts of the match, but saw enough.
As I am only seeing the finals free to air I am unable to comment on how players performed
earlier & can only judge on what I see now.
The positive on playing India, is it showed where we are really at & it wasn't good.
Lets get Maxwell out of the road first;
Ironically was one of the most conservative bowlers behind Cummins, but only bowled 7 overs.
Batting wise, under pressure to score & threw it away with poor shot selection, after getting a start.
I still have concerns re Maxwell but after this debacle, have decided to keep him in my team as there
are others that need replacing from a limited squad of batsmen.
So from the top:-
Finch was doing exactly what an ODI opener should, blunt the attack for 10 overs,
whilst putting runs on the board.
Warner was extremely disappointing & was 100% to blame for Finch's run out.
He seemed to go in a shell after this and was one of the main reasons we did not
get the start we needed.
Smith I was OK with as I looked on him to be the glue to hold the batting together,
and he was still scoring a run a ball.
Khawaja, I don't know why he is in a ODI side - he is a test player & now Smith is back
needs replacing by a batsman that can score quickly when required -
he tried to force the pace, not his natural game and went out.
Stoinis, expected more - disappointing.
Carey, a wonderful display of how to bat against India.
Coulter Nile, expected more - disappointing.
The rest just fell by the wayside under the pressure.
India's spinners just kept slowing us down all the way through Australia's Innings.

Aussie bowling other than Cummins was well below par for a match like this.
Just bowled wrong line & length - Starc being one of the worst.

Australia has a bad habit of not changing a winning side, this can & did lead
to the debacle we saw. They need drastic changes if they are even to make the finals.
Whilst I don't like Maxwell, he can be used a lot better & with Warner not firing, move
him to open with Finch -  Smith at 3 - Warner at 4 - Marsh at 5 -
Carey at 6 - Stoinis at 7 - Cummins at 8 - Richardson at 9 - 
Zampa at 10 & Lyon at 11.

I have no doubt I will be shot down in flames, but go for it

Unfortunately the top and middle order aside were far too conservative. My jaw was dropping as they were still working the ball around at over 35 with only 2 wickets. By the time maxwell got in he had to hit at 12 an over. He looked sublime but looked to try and get a boundary every ball because, quite frankly he had to. Even he isn't comfortable going at that pace

One positive is Alex Carey and NCN in this tournament have shown themselves to be players that can finish. So if Stoinis can get into good form we have decent power down the bottom

Overall a better bowling/fielding performance would prevent us from needing to chase 352 even on a pretty decent wicket against a very good Indian side. But the bowling is going to have off days and our batting line up needs to be able to find a way to up the ante and chase these scores. They are becoming much more common. The last time we chased a score like that we played 2 power hitters (turner and maxwell) who combined for over 100 off 50. Unless Stoinis finds some power hitting form I don't think we are unbalanced and not very competitive when the opposition scores these mammoth totals. Carey is developing his power hitting nicely but rarely scores more than 30. NCN can't be relied upon. So we are pretty exposed. The other option is for the top order to find an extra gear. But that's tricky in a world cup

I wish we would put khawaja to open. He scores at 6 an over when opening which is fine and averages well

Warner has played t20 for a year and is amazing at it. He should bat next to maxwell and be told to pretend its t20 to fix out power hitting problem. Stoinis should be a bit higher up (say 4) so he can get set

Gday gb,
jaszyjim - If you open with Khawaja & bat Stoinis at 4, where do you bat Warner, Smith & Maxwell.
eg. Finch 1, Khawaja 2, Smith 3, Stoinis 4, Warner 5, Maxwell 6, etc, 
or Finch 1, Khawaja 2, Maxwell 3, Stoinis 4, Warner 5 but then Smith bats at 6 which is a waste.
The problem with Khawaja in the team is you are limiting the big hitters.
Can anyone tell what Marsh's current one day form is, and should he be in the side. ie can he accumulate
runs if required compared to Khawaja.

yeah I'd have Finch Khawaja Smith and Stoinis as my top four. They are capable of getting 180 odd off the first 32 or so overs. Warner Maxwell Carey and NCN can then finish and get a further 170 odd. Stoinis and Smith can finish too if they are set. Problem with Stoinis so far down is he can't get going from ball 1. Khawaja goes at 6 an over opening which is fine imo

Marsh and Khawaja have both been in great form over the last 12 months. They are both accumulators sadly

Hopefully, the improvement comes.