Aaron Finch, who won six out of seven tosses, admitted that the toss played a huge role in their title-winning campaign but so did their attacking game.
Australia clinched their first T20 World Cup title on Sunday, defeating New Zealand by eight wickets in the final at Dubai. The Aussies became the second consecutive team to win the men’s T20 World event without successfully defending a total in the tournament.
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The Australian captain Aaron Finch admitted that his luck at the toss throughout the competition played a big role in their success. The 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE favoured the chasing teams heavily as 22 out of 33 matches from the Super 12 stage onwards were won by the team batting second. In Dubai, where Australia played both semi-final and final, 12 out of 13 games were won by the chasing side, with the solitary win coming in an afternoon fixture.
After winning six out seven tosses and emulating the West Indies’ 2016 edition record of lifting the trophy without winning a match batting first, Finch admitted that the toss was crucial and the dew factor helped a lot.
“It did play a big factor, to be honest. You saw out there at the end there the dew factor: the slower balls weren’t holding in the wicket as much.”
Australia batted first in the tournament only once, where England obliterated them by eight wickets, chasing 126 in 11.4 overs. The Aussie batting looked timid against England and South Africa, but they were aggressive in other matches and dominated the bowling attacks. Finch added that their aggressive approach was as vital as the toss.
“In T20 cricket, you need a bit of luck, don’t get me wrong. But we’ve played some really good cricket. We played cricket where we put teams on the back foot because we were aggressive.”
Captain Finch applauded his opening partner David Warner, who had a sensational campaign, winning the player of the tournament award. He believed Adam Zampa, who snared 13 wickets in the tournament at an economy of 5.81, should’ve won the award but was happy for Warner who had a tough time coming into the event.
“I thought Adam Zampa should have been man of the tournament personally but [Warner]’s a great player, he’s one of the all-time great batters and he’s a fighter. It was a special finish to the tournament for him, the last couple of knocks.”
Warner hammered 289 runs in seven games at an average of 48.16 and struck at 146.70. The pocket dynamo played an important role in both the knockouts, scoring 49 off 30 against Pakistan and 53 off 38 against the Kiwis in the final.
