Australian wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade said “confidence” in their own ability helped him and his end-overs partner Marcus Stoinis pull off a memorable finishing act against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2021 semi-final in Dubai on Thursday.
With Australia precariously placed at 96/5 in a stiff run-chase of 177 with a place in the World Cup final at stake, Wade and Stoinis stitched an unbeaten partnership of 81 off 40 balls. Wade hit 41* off 17 deliveries, while Stoinis made 40* off 31.
Wade had arguably his biggest cricketing triumph on the field for Australia, smashing Pakistan’s in-form left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi for three consecutive sixes to end the game in the 19th over. But even then, he selflessly chose to talk about the contribution of his partner and how his calming presence at the other end helped him retain his composure till the very end.
“It’s confidence, confidence in your ability to finish the game. To be able to bat with Marcus has been awesome, I’ve played a lot of cricket with him at Victoria early on in his career so I’ve seen him grow into the cricketer he is today,”
Wade was quoted as saying by the ICC.
“I know if I can hang with him for four or five overs, he’s going to find the boundary, he’s too big and strong not to. The reason that he and I worked well towards the back end is that we know each other’s game so much.”
“Trying to keep calm is probably the biggest thing towards the back end. That’s quite easy for me because I look down the other end and I see his big rig ready to send it out of the park. It might not be as easy for him at the other end,”
he added.
For many Australian fans, the Stoinis-Wade duo invoked the memories of watching a vintage Michael Hussey knock in the 2010 T20 World Cup semi-final against the same team in St Lucia. Back then as well, just when the situation was gaining hopeless proportion, Hussey came and delivered a great knock of 60* off 24 balls.
Here Australia had two Michael Husseys to work with, as they batted tremendously under pressure and didn’t let Pakistan run away with the game, which was very much possible with the asking rate well above 10.
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Stoinis is the one who first picked up gear and hit two fours and two sixes, which then inspired Wade to take down Hasan Ali and Shaheen in the 18th and the 19th over. The 19th over had the finish for the ages. With 18 more needed off 9, Australia had to hit the boundaries. But it felt, they would break it down and look for Shaheen’s over to go by with minimum damage and wait to take on the more expensive Haris Rauf in the final over.
However, grabbing the game by its neck, Wade went after Shaheen, who missed each of his attempted yorkers against the left-hander and conceded three consecutive sixes. Two of those were off the scoop shots that went over the fine-leg boundary. In between them, Wade smashed one over deep mid-wicket.
Before Stoinis and Wade, opening batter David Warner also batted brilliantly for his knock of 49, including three fours and four sixes. Warner looked every bit the batter that he is at his very best, and that augurs well for Australia heading into the final against New Zealand on Sunday.
