In sports, there are very few forces like Australia’s cricket team. Six World Cups, a World Test Championship, an ICC Champions Trophy and an unmatchable dominance over most sides in bilaterals – Australia’s success is second to none in the last three decades.

They started this Word Cup similarly, rolling over opponents to top their group and entering the Super Eights as one of the favourites to add another title to their glittering cabinet.

But all it took was one off day in the field for them to be on the brink. Afghanistan’s grit, determination, and smarts in exploiting the conditions in their favour scripted the fall of Australia. Rashid Khan’s men beat the Kangaroos by 21 runs to open up the Group 1.

Australia, however, still had matters in their own hands. All they needed to do was beat India. Easier said done, right? Of course! But when Australia’s backs are against the wall, they generally come out on top, especially if it’s a World Cup. But this time, they came up against an Indian captain who was possessed. It was as if Rohit Sharma was told the only way to vent his anger was by bashing Australia’s bowlers. His unbelievably brutal yet classy assaultand some outstanding wrist spin from Kuldeep Yadav spelt Australia’s doom.

The Mitchell Marsh-led side was now hoping against hope. They needed Bangladesh to beat Afghanistan in the last Super Eight match but not by a big margin. Glenn Maxwell found it hard to recall the last time Australia were at the mercy of another team to qualify for the next round in a World Cup. Captain Mitchell Marsh didn’t shy away from openly saying, “Come on Bangladesh”.

But nothing worked. Afghanistan produced another spirited display to beat Bangladesh by eight runs (via DLS method) to enter the semis and the record books.

Australia suffered an unceremonious exit. This was the second T20 World Cup in a row where Australia could not advance to the semi-finals.

How the Australian media reacted to their team’s T20 World Cup exit

The chatter in the Australian media revolved around three things – Life after David Warner, who played his last match in Australian colours, Afghanistan’s alleged “unfair” measures taken during the match against Bangladesh and ICC’s scheduling.

“How mind-bending schedule stitched up Aussies, pampered India,” was the headline of an article published in the Herald Sun that talked about how Australia played back-to-back day-night and day games in the Super Eight stage while all of India’s matches in the tournament were day games to suit their viewers.

The Syndey Morning Herald‘s headline in the cricket section read: “Drama and farce reign, but Australia didn’t deserve a World Cup semi-final.” It discussed the gaps in Australia’s T20I side but also criticised Gulbadin Naib’s ‘fake’ injury act, which was used as a delay tactic during the Afghanistan vs Bangladesh match.

“Warner underlined his value to the Australian side in his final tournament, hitting match-winning half-centuries against Bangladesh and Oman. But his most telling contribution came against England in Barbados, where he slammed four sixes in a Powerplay blitz with Travis Head,” wrote Cricket.com.au.

Fox Cricket quoted Mitchell Marsh to indicate the need for a change in the Australian T20I set-up. “Australian T20 captain Mitch Marsh says some of the veteran members of the team that failed to make the World Cup semi-finals would need to “make decisions” about their future as part of the review of the failed campaign,” they wrote.