Australia’s final Champions Trophy pool match could be a dead rubber with them knocked out of the tournament if England beat New Zealand on Sunday in Cardiff.
As if David Warner hadn’t dented Australia’s bid to defend their title enough by punching rival Joe Root in the face, Sri Lanka have now blown group A open by causing a major boilover against England on Thursday.
It means virtually Australia’s only chance of making the semi-finals is for New Zealand to deliver a knock-out blow to England on Sunday.
A Black Caps upset over England would mean Australia could secure a semi-final berth by beating Sri Lanka on Monday at The Oval.
If England beat New Zealand to finish top of the pool, it’s probable the Black Caps’ far superior run rate would mean they stay ahead of Australia in second, even if Australia won handsomely against Sri Lanka.
That would mean Warner’s Champions Trophy ban would be short-lived, although he also misses Australia’s two tour games leading into the first Test of the Ashes.
In-form Australian batsman Adam Voges admits it’ll be a nervous few days for the one-day team.
“There’s a (number) of scenarios that can happen. A result could go our way and it’d just be a win against Sri Lanka is all we’d need,” Voges said.
“We may need a big win against Sri Lanka or we could be out of the tournament. It’ll be a nervy few days for sure.
“Obviously it means we need a result to go our way but we’ll know all that by the time we play Sri Lanka on Monday. Hopefully we’ll still be in the competition and we’ll know exactly what we need to do.”
Australia’s plight was severely damaged by their rain abandoned clash with New Zealand on Wednesday, the match Warner was stood down for over his nightclub incident.
The match only lasted 15 overs of the second innings, but if it had lasted the 20 required for a result, it’s likely Australia would have been in front on Duckworth/Lewis.
“I think so. I think even if we managed to get back on, the Duckworth/Lewis numbers were probably in our favour,” he said.
That said, Australia made a rod for their own back by being soundly beaten by 48 runs in their tournament opener against England.
That night at least six players including Warner were out drinking into the early hours of Sunday morning.
Since then, Australia’s fortunes at the tournament have only sky rocketed.
Voges said the team needed to focus back on cricket.
“Obviously with the events of what’s happened over the past few days it’s probably taken some of the focus off the cricket which has been unfortunate,” he said.
“The on-field stuff I thought we had a much improved showing against New Zealand.”