"They are just waiting to be shot down, and they have been"- Matthew Hayden slams Australia for surrendering to SA in 2023 World Cup

Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden was disappointed with the Men in Yellow's performance against South Africa in the 2023 World Cup match in Lucknow on Thursday, October 12.

Opting to bowl first, Australia let the Proteas post a daunting total of 311/7 in their 50 overs and were bundled out for just 177 in reply. Hayden was particularly concerned with their bowling changes as Glenn Maxwell was introduced in the attack ahead of other wicket-taking options like Adam Zampa and captain Pat Cummins himself.

Here's what Matthew Hayden was quoted as saying on air by Wisden.com about what he felt were Australia's defensive tactics:

“You had an off-spinner bowling inside ten overs, with no slip, with not really a conscious plan to go, ‘Right, how are we going to get a wicket’. Whenever I think of … Shane Warne, the very first thing that he comes up with is, immediately, how am I trying to get a wicket. And I sense that hasn’t happened with the ball. I sense it also hasn’t happened with the bat either. They are just waiting to be shot down, and they have been.”

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Matthew Hayden on Australia's batting collapse

Australia needed their big guns to fire with the bat, but it wasn't to be as the likes of Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, and Kagiso Rabada all found swing and seam movement and continued to chip away with wickets at regular intervals.

Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Starc's seventh wicket partnership of 69 proved to be the only saving grace for the Aussies, who lost their first six wickets for just 70 runs. On this, Matthew Hayden stated:

“Back-to-back wickets for the first and second wickets. Mini partnership. Back-to-back wickets for the third and fourth wickets. Mini partnership again. This is the only major contribution here right now (Labuschagne and Starc were batting at that moment)."

He further added:

“What interestingly though, has come to the fore is just how now they are starting to think, ‘okay, we going to get runs’ as opposed to, ‘okay, we’re gonna just survive’. And I think that’s been the trending story of the day.”

After just two games and two big losses against potential title contenders in India and South Africa, Australia are behind the 8-ball to try and get on a run of winning back-to-back games. They will need to find a way to get their combination right before it's too late.