Former England batter Kevin Pietersen opened up on Australia’s bad form in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 as the five-time World Champions went off to a disappointing start in the mega event.
The Aussies started their World Cup campaign with a six-wicket loss against India, where, first, they struggled to score big with the bat on the tricky wicket of Chennai and then, after dismantling India’s top-order while defending 200, couldn’t keep up the momentum and failed to break KL Rahul and Virat Kohli’s match-winning partnership.
After India’s loss, the Aussies were handed a massive 134-run by South Africa, making things more difficult for Pat Cummins as the 30-year-old is under serious scrutiny with just one win in the last seven ODIs.
Pietersen, 43, believes that the reason behind this poor form of the Aussies is match fatigue as the five-time World Champions have been playing consistent cricket since the final of the World Test Championship 2023 in June.
“Aus taking a bit of heat on my timeline. When a team has been on tour for months and months with core players involved in all forms, it can lead to fatigue. Aus have been on the road since May/June. When we used to play a CWC after being in Aus for an Ashes summer, we had same,” Pietersen wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Earlier, the Aussies crumbled in chase of 312 with Proteas’ pacers having an upper hand over the five-time champions.
Ace bowler Kagiso Rabada finished with figures of 3/33 while Marco Jansen, and the spin duo of Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi bagged two wickets each.
Australian trio of Marnus Labuschagne (46), Mitchell Starc (27) and Pat Cummins (22) showed resistance but the five-time World champions were bowled out for 177.
Batting first, Quinton de Kock, in a repeat performance of his second successive century, contributed to South Africa's total of 311-7 against a lacklustre Australia side that dropped five catches.
The 30-year-old De Kock, who is set to retire from ODI cricket at the end of the tournament, reached his 19th ODI century in 90 balls, including eight fours and five sixes.
