A match-winning spell, a stellar fielding display and a vital contribution with the bat against arch-rivals England made for the “most satisfying” ODI for Australia spinner Adam Zampa. The leg-spinner smashed 29 off 19 balls, featuring four hits to the boundary, and then returned with miserly figures of 3/21. To add to that, Zampa took a stunning running catch to send David Willey back to the pavilion and complete a perfect day.
“It’s probably the most satisfying ODI I’ve ever played to be honest,” Zampa, who was adjudged player of the match, said after Australia’s 33-run win over England on Saturday.
“Batting innings, really satisfying. Starky (Starc) and I spoke about trying to take it deep, with still staying fairly positive, because we stuffed it up against New Zealand.
“But nice to contribute with the bat, it felt good and then the catch, I mean, I am not known as the best fielder in the world but satisfying to work on stuff and things come off like that so it’s a good feeling.” His victims with the ball included Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali, who were threatening to take the match away from Australia, and skipper Jos Buttler.
“I’d say tonight is as satisfying as it feels after an ODI in terms of my 10 overs. Bowling mainly to lefties, Malan, Stokes, Ali, they’re quality players. And to sit back, knowing that I went for 20 runs off 10 overs, my length control was as good as it’s been, it was a really satisfying one tonight,” Zampa said.
A vital cog in Australia’s scheme of things in white ball cricket, the 31-year-old is yet to make his Test debut.
“No, not that difficult (accepting he was not chosen for the tour of India earlier this year). I was hopeful. I’d love to play Test cricket. I’d love to have that opportunity. I’ve said that plenty of times. But I’m pretty realistic about how it looks and what works in the subcontinent.
“There aren’t a lot of leg spinners playing Test cricket at the moment either. I was hopeful, obviously would have loved to have still played that in that test series but as soon as I found out I wasn’t playing and kind of saw how the games are going in that series I started concentrating on the World Cup.
“We’ve got this one and obviously the T20 World Cup coming up next year as well so there was plenty to look forward to,” he added.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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