Mitchell Marsh has backed his Australia team to come good under pressure ahead of their must-win clash with India in St Lucia at the T20 World Cup on Monday.
The Baggy Greens head into the Super Eight match at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium on the back of suffering their first-ever defeat in any format against Afghanistan.
Australia were dismissed for 127 on a tricky Kingstown track in reply to Afghanistan's 148-6 thanks to a superb bowling performance from Gulbadin Naib (4-20) and Naveen-ul-Haq (3-20) that followed half-centuries from Rahmanullah Gurbaz (60) and Ibrahim Zadran (51) on Sunday.
A win for Australia would have taken them and India safely through to the semis with a game to spare. Instead, the group is on a knife-edge and Australia are likely to need to beat India to progress to the last four.
India top Group 1 on four points, ahead of Australia and Afghanistan on two – the former are ahead on net run rate – with Bangladesh alone in last place, with none. Afghanistan are also in action on Monday when they face Bangladesh at St Vincent, by which time they will know what is required to qualify for the semi-finals for the first time.
Despite the pressure suddenly cranking up, captain Marsh believes his team will come good when it matters. “We have a lot of belief in our group,” he said. “We are a very good cricket team. Yes, tonight we had an off night, but I guess there's also a positive in the fact that in 36 hours we go again.
“If you look back at the short history of this team, I know for a fact that it brings out the best in our guys, so the boys will certainly be up and about for it.
“It's all about trusting ourselves. We've got a good bunch of people and I believe our best is up there with the best. So, we need to bring that on whatever day it is in a couple of days' time and move forward pretty quickly.”
For the second time in three matches, Australia were poor in the field with five missed catches – none of which were easy, in their defence – and a stumping from Matthew Wade, plus some poor groundwork.
“We certainly pride ourselves on our fielding,” Marsh added. “Can't question the boys putting in the work. I think it's no different to any other skill set. We put in the work, we didn't execute in the field tonight and ultimately it played a part in us losing the game.
“We don't want to have too many off nights in the field but I also believe that at our best we're an unbelievable fielding side so it's easy to look at tonight and, yes, it was disappointing but ultimately, we have 36 hours to turn it around and I still believe that our best is very good in the field.”
India, meanwhile, made it two wins from two on Saturday – and five victories on the trot – when they crushed Bangladesh by 50 runs in Antigua.
Hardik Pandya blasted Bangladesh with a 27-ball half-century that helped India set an imposing 196-5 before Kuldeep Yadav took 3-19 in four overs to limit Bangladesh to 146-8.
“We have played some really good cricket [to win five straight games],” said player of the match Pandya. “We have executed our plans well, but as a group we can still improve. We sometimes lose wickets in a bunch, but apart from that things are looking good.”
