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Australia batter Mitchell Marsh has hailed the success of the more unheralded teams at the World Cup as “great for world cricket”.
Five-time world champions Australia meet the Netherlands in Delhi on Wednesday and are keen to avoid an upset similar to the ones that reigning champions England, Pakistan and South Africa have experienced at this year’s tournament.
Afghanistan have stunned England and Pakistan to raise hopes of a semi-final spot, while the Netherlands claimed a similar result against South Africa in Dharmashala.
“Teams have got better and I think that’s great for world cricket, certainly in tournaments like this that can be pretty long,” said Marsh.
“We’ve said multiple times in this tournament there are no easy games.
“This game is no different for us. We respect the Netherlands, they’re playing some good cricket and it will be a tough challenge.”
Australia have recovered from opening defeats to India and South Africa to revive their top-four ambitions with wins over Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
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Highlights from Australia’s win over Pakistan as David Warner and Mitchell Marsh shared a partnership worth 259 – the highest opening stand in a World Cup for their side
Marsh made 52 and 121 at the top of the order in those games, but may bat at three should Travis Head be fit after fracturing his hand six weeks ago.
“Every game from here on in is really important,” said Marsh. “Some teams have lost a couple, and every World Cup game is high pressure and high stakes.
“We had a slow start and we were put under pressure at times. But we’ve played really good cricket in the last two games, and our vibe is high.”
Netherlands all-rounder Logan van Beek hopes the team can continue breaking boundaries ahead of Wednesday’s game.
“I hope that another of couple wins, [then] they can almost stop joking about cricket in the Netherlands,” he said.
“They [can] start talking seriously about how this is actually one of our best sports teams in the country.”
Watch Australia face Netherlands at the Cricket World Cup live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event on Wednesday, October 25 from 9am. Also stream the entire tournament and more with NOW.
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