Five-time ODI World Cup champions Australia have slipped at the bottom of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 points table following the England vs Afghanistan match on Sunday. The Australian team is going through a challenging campaign, having suffered defeats in both of their matches, one against India and the other against South Africa. Prior to Sunday’s game, the Afghan team occupied the bottom spot in the points table. However, their historic win against England propelled them up to the sixth spot, surpassing Australia, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh in the standings.
ODI World Cup 2023: Points Table
| Position | Team | Points | Played | Won | Lost | No Result | Net Run Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1.821 |
| 2 | New Zealand | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1.604 |
| 3 | South Africa | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +2.360 |
| 4 | Pakistan | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -0.137 |
| 5 | England | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -0.084 |
| 6 | Afghanistan | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -0.652 |
| 7 | Bangladesh | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -0.699 |
| 8 | Sri Lanka | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -1.161 |
| 9 | Netherlands | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -1.800 |
| 10 | Australia | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -1.846 |
Australia’s challenging start in ODI World Cup 2023
The era of Australian dominance in World Cups is now a thing of the past. Their recent struggles were not just due to losses, but also the manner in which they occurred. India’s spinners – Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, and Kuldeep Yadav, dismantled them in their opening match of the World Cup 2023, and they could only muster a meager 199 runs.
Despite briefly putting India in a tough spot at 2-3, their chances suffered due to poor fielding, with Mitchell Marsh’s drop of the crucial catch of Virat Kohli exemplifying this. Ultimately, Australia lost the match by six wickets as Kohli and KL Rahul formed a record-breaking partnership.
The same story unfolded in their second match. Once recognized as the best fielding team globally, Australia shockingly dropped five catches against South Africa at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. Two of these catches were missed during captain Pat Cummins’ ninth over, which happened to be the 49th over of South Africa’s innings.
The missed opportunities allowed South Africa to reach a substantial score of 311-7. When Australia chased this daunting total, South Africa reduced them to 56-4 in just 12 overs, resulting in a 134-run defeat – their largest margin of defeat by runs in World Cup history.
Nevertheless, all know that the Australians have a reputation for their ability to bounce back strongly. They will be counting on a turnaround in their upcoming World Cup match against Sri Lanka on Monday, October 16 in Lucknow.
