Adam Zampa: Mr Reliable strikes again

NICK HOWSON: Australia's middle-overs specialist produces the most frugal four overs by a spinner in the Super 12s to inspire victory over Sri Lanka

"It works really, me and Finchy together."

Elite sport is very often about being brave. Not playing on through injury, giving onlookers an unnatural perception of what heart and character actually look like, but making bold decisions in pressure moments.

Aaron Finch played the long game in the Sri Lanka innings, combining his front-line quicks with his fifth-choice bowlers Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell. The pair's four overs would eventually go for 51 but when you have the attack Australia possess there is little need to panic.

Three of those came in the opening nine, meaning Finch could deploy Mitchell Starc and Adam Zampa, his prized white-ball assets, in the tricky middle overs when Sri Lanka are looking to keep wickets in hand ahead of the death.

It was in the space of seven balls, across overs 10 and 11, that the five-time men's 50-over world champions went from on the back foot to front-runners.

The first warning sign from Zampa came via his second delivery, a wrong'un which hit the otherwise poised (with the bat at least) Kusal Perera on the back-leg and looked like a good shout for lbw. Australia decided against the review, with the leggy adjudging that it might have done too much almost gleefully. It wasn't the last thing he got right either.

^{Zampa has taken 88 wickets under Finch tutalege} 

Seven runs had been taken from Zampa's nine balls, which had included the odd googly, fuller deliveries, and balls spinning away from the left-hander. It said plenty about how difficult Sri Lanka were finding it that Charith Asalanka, who had been striking it like a beachball, chose to try and release the pressure off the wrong'un which sailed into the hands of Steve Smith at backward square leg.

Then Starc produced his own bit of mercurial bowling, a quick, inswinging yorker which we've seen enough times for it to feel like a stock delivery. Perera's stumps were dissembled in the blink of an eye.

Zampa wouldn't have been able to believe his luck when Avishka Fernando swung hard against the spin and Smith did the rest just inside the ring. This was death by pressure and Sri Lanka's line-up were falling on their swords.

The remainder of the evening felt like a procession, not least an Australia chase that saw them dispatch an attack which has its own tricksters and speedsters. It was the complete performance just as the contenders begin to jostle for position. Meanwhile, chasers are now 16 from 20 and it isn't as though we've seen much dew around.

But back to Zampa. His 24 balls between overs eight and 14 went for just a dozen and included those two wickets, the most frugal set of four by a spinner in the Super 12s. Shakib Al Hasan's return against Papua New Guinea in the group phase (4 for 9) is the standard so far.

The 29-year-old is among the best around outside of the powerplay. Since 2018, 37 of his 40 wickets in this format have come between overs six and 20. Rashid Khan is top of the tree on 57. His economy rate in the same period is fourth in the world at 7.09 (Shakib leads on 6.40).

^{Mitchell Starc produced the delivery of the day to bowl Kusal Perera}

It is easy to forget that Zampa started the last men's T20 World Cup without a single wicket in 20-over internationals. He's gone from filling in the overs and offering control to a prime wicket-taker. It helps that with legspin running through his veins thanks to his father, who played for New South Wales Country and turned him on to the discipline, he has a degree of perspective on the discipline. Some days it won't go your way.

Given the high esteem in which he holds Finch and his leadership, it isn't a surprise that no Aussie has taken more wickets under his entire stewardship (88 in 67 games). And to think, I've made it all this way without mentioning he's a vegan-observing, coffee-brewing whiskey drinker.

"Being led well as a leg-spinner is everything," he told SEN in February.

"You can be bowling the absolute house down in the nets and feel like you're bowling well in the game but if you've got a leader who is controlling, wants you to bowl a certain way every single ball every single time, it's just added pressure on you. 

"With Finchy in particular, he's very communicative when I'll be bowling each game and who he wants me to bowl to but once I get out there he's just 'go with your gut, mate'. 

Australia have plenty of questions to answer before they can be assured of ending their wait for a maiden men's T20 crown. Win or lose, they can reply on Zampa to keep making things look easy.

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