T20 World Cup 2021: Match 38 - Australia vs West Indies: Who Said What

Australia defeated West Indies by eight wickets comfortably to almost seal their place in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2021. However, they will still have to wait for the result of the game between England and South Africa and hope that the Proteas don’t win by a margin of more than 60 runs.

Coming back to the game, West Indies got off to a good start with Chris Gayle hitting a couple of sixes but soon lost their way. Australia bowlers found their mojo at the perfect time and they kept picking wickets at regular intervals. West Indies batters got starts but none apart from Kieron Pollard could stick around. The skipper made 44 runs off just 31 balls before getting out in the final over.

Andre Russell’s multiple sixes off the last two balls of the innings propelled West Indies to 157/7 in their 20 overs. Josh Hazlewood was the star with the ball for Australia as he picked four wickets.

The chase could’ve turned tricky for the Aussies after losing Aaron Finch early. But David Warner was in blazing form on the day and found an apt partner in Mitchell Marsh at the other end. The duo made sure they didn’t let West Indies come back into the game. They added 124 runs for the second wicket before Marsh got out to an enterprising Chris Gayle. Warner stayed unbeaten on 89 off 54 balls as Australia got over the line in the 17th over itself to boost their NRR.

Player of the Match, David Warner said:

It felt satisfying to be there and hitting the winning runs. The key was to come out and play my natural game, target the bowlers up front. Obviously the slow bowlers bowling with the new ball there needs to be some adjustment, especially with Akeal Hosein who was swinging it and hard to get away with.

For me it is about targeting the first two balls of the over and Mitch Marsh coming in and playing that knock was outstanding. They (the bowlers) have been outstanding. Last game was clinical and tonight to come out and bowl the way they did, we knew they would come hard at us and would keep coming even if they lost three wickets, to restrict them to a competitive total was a good job.

DJ has been the benchmark for all the players coming out of the Caribbean, Chris as well for all opening batters around the world, he sets a high standard and I look up to him.

Australia skipper, Aaron Finch said:

It was a really pleasing day. I thought it was going to be a long day the way Evin Lewis played. We held our nerve nicely. The way [David] managed his innings, got off to a flyer and allowed Mitch Marsh to get into his innings. He’s been a super player for a long time. Can’t understand why people doubted him. We have to wait for the South Africa-England game and keep our fingers crossed. I’m sure someone will be streaming it. If it doesn’t go our way we can hold our head high that we won four out of five

West Indies skipper, Kieron Pollard said:

 I think overall has been a disappointing campaign. The batting has lived up to expectations, bowling has been decent. We could have done better with the fielding as well. Overall we weren’t good enough.

But for me, it’s the end of a generation/era where you have some guys who have done some good things for T20 cricket, not only in the Caribbean but around the world. Sometimes one tournament you don’t want to sum up the entire thing when it comes to that but rationally these guys have done pretty well for themselves and we as people are very, very proud. Obviously we need to look at the way we play T20 cricket again.

Our team is set-up for powerhitters to do a lot of damage but we weren’t able to do that. We have seen in these conditions that one guy in that top four has to bat through, when you get in try and stay as long as possible. It’s hard for the guys to come and hit straightaway. That is something that we need to do better but the good thing is that we have to start from foundation now and that’s the reality of the situation.

There is nothing that we can do about it now. That journey would not have just started at this World Cup. The journey would have started earlier to get points accumulated whatever needed to qualify. For us it is what it is. We have to live with that. Couple of years ago, we had to qualify for the 50-over World Cup and we did. So whoever in the position in terms of personnel now, we have to rebuild and do it. 

Thanks to everyone who have supported us. Thanks to the Caribbean fans, yes we disappointed you as a team, sorry. But life goes on. Thank you very much