Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa has admitted that he wasn’t at his absolute best in the first two matches against India and South Africa in the ongoing World Cup 2023. However, Zampa was finally able to turn a corner in a must-win encounter against Sri Lanka at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Monday.
Zampa returned with impressive figures of 4-47 in the eight overs he bowled and turned the match on its head with his fine spell. The leggie accounted for Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Chamika Karunaratne and Maheesh Theekshana.
In fact, Sri Lanka was cruising at 125-0 but they were bundled out for only 209 runs. The Lankans lost the last nine wickets for only 52 runs as Zampa was the chief destroyer.
Adam Zampa said as quoted by cricket.com.au, “Bowling to set batters and trying to build some pressure, I just wasn’t really able to do that. I won’t make any excuses. I think I should be good enough to play that role as well but just it’s taken me a lot longer to get into the game than I would have liked.”
Zampa added:
“I look back on the first two games and I probably look at the last game as one where I could have made a difference and made it easy for those other guys. But the Indian game, we we’re under the pump defending 200 and I’m always going to be the guy who tries to get wickets.”
On the other hand, Zampa reckons the next match against Pakistan will be a huge game for them and they will look to carry the winning impetus.
“The figures (are) ‘whatever’, it’s more about my attitude and reflecting on did I bowl the ball where I wanted to, did I make the right decisions, did I put my game on the line to try and make a difference? It’s a World Cup so you can get on a roll. Obviously, a really big game against Pakistan in Bangalore and if we can put it all together play a good game there, you go 2-2 and there’s the feeling is much better.”
Australia would have certainly felt better after a much-needed win against Sri Lanka and this is their seventh consecutive win against the Lankans in the World Cup.
The Men in Yellow will next take on Pakistan at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Friday.
