Zampa’s return to form bodes well for Aussies

Adam Zampa against Sri Lanka in Lucknow on Monday. Pic/PTI

Adam Zampa's form is crucial for Australia in this World Cup, in which teams are going to encounter pitches where spinners will have a big role to play. Like the other day, Afghanistan's spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi rolled England over at the Kotla. The spinners usually bowl in tandem, but here, Zampa is the lone frontline spinner in the Australian line-up with Glenn Maxwell, providing support as a part-time off-spinner.

Hammered in first two games

Zampa was hammered in the first two World Cup matches - against India he had unflattering figures of 8-0-53-0 and against South Africa 10-0-70-1 - which Australia went on to lose rather tamely. Then came the game against Sri Lanka at the Ekana Stadium here on Monday.

The Sri Lankan openers were cruising along and it seemed Zampa was going to have another rough day. But once captain Pat Cummins removed openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera, the stage was set for Zampa to finally make his presence felt.

Suddenly, he found his line and length and got among the wickets. His four-wicket haul not only helped the Aussies win the match but also earned the leg-spinner the man of the match award. It was a matter of time before he came into his own, and despite carrying a niggle into the match against Sri Lanka, he finally found his mojo.

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About going into the match with a niggle, he said: "Yes, it was a bit of a random [injury] to be honest. I did a gym session a couple of nights ago and I don't know if you've ever had a back spasm, but I was worse for the last couple of days. I had to do a fitness test before the game [against Sri Lanka]. Then, I felt like adrenaline was going to get me through and had a bit of Panadeine Forte [painkiller]. So, it was a tough one to get through today. I think as I said, one of those random ones that will wear off in the next day or so."

Joy at last

On his match-winning performance in the match, he said, "It took me a lot longer than I wanted to get into the game today. Yeah, I mean, bowling to set batters and trying to build some pressure, I just wasn't able to do that. I won't make any excuses. I think I should be good enough to play that role as well. It's taking me a lot longer to get into the game than I would have liked. You know, I was able to get a couple [of wickets], then, we got on a bit of a roll and the energy changed in the group. We needed that one."