Aussies struggle against spin again

Australia opener Aaron Finch says his side needs to work on facing spin after being rolled for 142 in an ODI against South Africa.

Australia's spin problems have resurfaced in an ODI loss to South Africa, with Aaron Finch predicting a slow-bowling onslaught in this month's tri-series.

No matter the format, tweakers in spin-friendly conditions have caused Australia a lot of trouble in recent years.

The Proteas' decision to play three frontline spinners in the third match of the Caribbean tournament proved a masterstroke.

Debutant Tabraiz Shamsi, Aaron Phangiso and Imran Tahir were all a handful in Georgetown, backing up some fine work from their pacemen.

"Both South Africa and West Indies have got quality spin line-ups, so they're going to come and be aggressive with their spinners," Finch said.

"That's something we're prepared for ... we've worked hard on it since we landed here.

"When you have wickets that are so foreign to us, they're still going to take a little bit of time to adapt to them.

"Unfortunately tonight it didn't pan out for us and we weren't able to attack their spin a hell of a lot. That's something to work on."

The Victorian opener added there was risks involved with worrying about spin too much.

"You can probably get a bit too focused on spin being a big impact and see the quicks as less of a threat," Finch said.

Skipper Steve Smith last week highlighted smart batting against spin as one of the keys to victory in the series.

"We didn't adapt well enough with the bat ... we have to be better, we have to play better on wickets like these," Smith said in the post-match ceremony.

There should be some spin respite for Smith's side.

The series now shifts to a much smaller ground in St Kitts, where there is likely to be more high-scoring games.

"Hopefully the tracks will be a little bit more in favour of the batters," South Africa's man of the match Farhaan Behardien said.

"It was quite a bold game plan to go in with three spinners today. I don't think that's something we've ever done.

"It paid off on a wicket that offered some assistance for the spinners."


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world