T20 World Cup 2021: Semi-final 2, Australia vs Pakistan – Who Said What

Cricket’s most unpredictable format threw another belief-defying result, with Pakistan being on the receiving end to be knocked out of the T20 World Cup. They had won five on the bounce, but a loss at this stage always had the capacity to offset that in one go, and thanks to a Matthew Wade blinder, that is what Pakistan’s fate turned out to be in the tournament they were billed one of the favourites of after the Super12s.

Australia might have entered the tournament with plenty of unanswered questions and losses in no less than five bilateral T20I series preceding the World Cup, but come to the big tournament, they have summoned the right form, as they set themselves up to face New Zealand on November 14.

Having called correctly five times in a row, Babar Azam got it wrong against Aaron Finch on November 11. It was exactly this kind of contingency Babar had prepared for by deliberately opting to bat in last two league fixtures notwithstanding the chasing teams’ record, but unlike those instances, when Pakistan defeated Scotland and Namibia, their opposition this time was much stronger.

After being inserted, the template for Pakistan remained the same, with Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan providing another solid start, albeit they managed to show slightly more intent as compared to what they did thus far, finishing the powerplay 47/0. Rizwan, in particular, also enjoyed a fair share of luck, getting dropped twice inside the powerplay. The 71-run stand was broken when Babar holed out to long on for 39 before Fakhar Zaman toyed with the Australian bowlers in the company of Rizwan.

He might not have had the best of forms entering into this clash, but against Australia, Zaman displayed his range handsomely, hitting four sixes and three fours in his unbeaten 55 off 32. Rizwan, the leading run-scorer in T20s this year, ensured he made Australia pay for their mistakes of dropping him and occasional lack of discipline with the ball, scoring 52-ball 67 with an identical boundary tally as Zaman, to power his team to a competitive total even as both Asif Ali and Shoaib Malik perished cheaply to Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, respectively.

Pakistan made the best of starts in their defence of 176, with Shaheen Afridi pinning Aaron Finch lbw in the very first over to push Australia on the back foot, before David Warner and Mitchell Marsh restored sanity with a calculated 51-run stand, which was broken by Shadab Khan, who claimed an exceptional spell of 4/26 in vain.

After Marsh’s (28 off 22) exit, Australia found themselves in a bit of a soup, slipping to 96/5 with Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith and Warner all back in the hut. Warner, interestingly, chose to walk back one short of his half-century despite not having edged Shadab, which was later confirmed by Ultra Edge.

From there, it was a berserk display of hitting by Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade, who knocked down the required 81 runs with an over to spare, hitting six sixes and four fours amongst themselves. In hindsight, Hasan Ali perhaps made the costliest drop, when he grassed Wade off Afridi in the penultimate over. What followed was an assault that will be scripted in the sport’s lore for the ages: 6,6,6 by Wade, who stood unbeaten on 41 off just 17 to see Australia home.

Losing skipper Babar Azam:

I thought we scored as many runs as we had planned in the first innings. I think if we give such teams a chance in the back end, it is going to be costly. The turning point was that dropped catch. Had we taken it, the scenario could have been different. The way we gelled and played the entire tournament, I am satisfied as a captain. Hopefully we’ll learn from this for the next tournament. When you play so well throughout, there were small mistakes that cost us the match in the end. We gave players roles and they executed it really well. The way the crowds supported us, we enjoyed a lot as a team. We always enjoy playing here.

Winning skipper Aaron Finch:

Never thought it was in the bag. It was a great game of cricket. The way Wade held his nerve at the end was amazing. That partnership with Stoinis was crucial. I got my feet in a tangle and opening batsmen do get a few good balls now and then in T20 cricket. We were sloppy today in the field, a couple of tough ones. We need the support of all 17 players to get across the line. We have played some really good cricket in the back end. Teams chasing have been successful. There is no dew, the lights take effect. I was hoping I’d lose the toss, bat first and put up a good score on the board.

Player of the Match Matthew Wade:

Absolutely (preempted the scoops). I was talking to Stoinis at the other end and tried to work out what they’re doing. I got a little more pace on than expected, I probably could have used it a little bit earlier, but yeah.. glad to get a couple at the end. There wasn’t a lot of chat before I went in as we lost quick wickets. But when I got out there, Me and Marcus had batted together in the first game and got some momentum today as well. I was a bit unsure but Marcus showed me the way out. There was one short side and I was confident that if I had to target that then I could pull it off, but it got down to two-a-ball and you had to hit everything in your arc. I got a boundary away early on and then stalled for 5-6 balls, but Marcus got the boundary away and got us to a total where I was confident in the last two overs. It hasn’t sunk in but probably when I sit down tonight it might sink in. I was out of the two team for 2-3 years, just came back 20 games ago and happy to have repaid the faith.