Australian opener Matthew Short is most probably ruled out for the semifinal against either India or New Zealand after being injured in the quad in the rain-affected match against Afghanistan where he was in fine form.
Short scored 20 off 15 balls on Friday, but he appeared to be in considerable pain before he was dismissed by Azmatullah Omarzai, who helped Australia qualify for the semifinals.
Short got hurt late in Afghanistan’s inning and struggled to walk between the wickets alongside Travis Head when opening the batting, mainly concentrating on boundary-hitting. He scored 20 runs off 15 balls, looking quite valuable as an opening partnership with his fellow openers after a 44-run alliance from 4.3 overs. He got out to mid-on. After the match, Captain Steven Smith admitted the time constraints were not on Short’s side for recovery.
“I think he’ll be struggling. I think we saw tonight he wasn’t moving very well. I think it’s probably going to be too quick between games for him to recover,” said Smith during the post-match presentation.
Jake Fraser-McGurk, who stepped in for the injured Mitchell Marsh, is the stand-in batter in the team, and this could be a very direct swap for Short opening the batting. But other options are available too, with all-rounder Aaron Hardie possibly coming if someone else has been moved up to open.
“We’ve got a few guys available to fill the role,” Smith stated.
If he is formally ruled out for the rest of the tournament, Cooper Connolly, the left-handed batter-left-arm spinner, could be called in as a travelling reserve. The absence of Short amounts to yet another option as far as spin-bowling is concerned, as he had bowled seven brilliant overs for only 21 runs against Afghanistan. However, Australia does have other spin options,
like Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, who took two wickets against England but were not called on Friday.
Australia was already dealing with injuries in the run-up to this tournament, with Marsh (back), Pat Cummins (ankle), Josh Hazlewood (hip), and Mitchell Starc (ankle) all sidelined, while Marcus Stoinis announced his retirement.
Qualification of the other team from Group B remains unsure; however, with South Africa as a top contender for joining Australia through Group B. The semi-final venues will not be decided until India’s clash with New Zealand on Sunday night. The other positions in Group B will be determined after Saturday’s South Africa-England encounter, but India and New Zealand have already got their venues meanwhile in Dubai and Lahore, respectively.
In the case that South Africa actually tops the group by defeating England, Australia fights the winner of the India-New Zealand clash in the semi-final. If England prevails, then Australia meets the loser of that encounter.
Another team in Dubai will be left with hardly above 24 hours to prepare. Dubai, where India plays all their matches, has provided conditions conducive to spinners, and Australia has perhaps a leg spinner in Tanveer Sangha, who could lead the attack.
On the other hand, playing in Lahore would offer Australia more familiar conditions, given their past experience with matches in that city, including chasing down England’s target of 352 runs to win. But if India do qualify for the finals, there is still a probability of Australia being required to travel to Dubai, with the finals being held in the UAE; otherwise, it may require Lahore.
