DUBAI : Matthew Wade needed a stroke of luck to fire Australia into the Twenty20 World Cup final but he refused to call it the turning-point in their dramatic semi-final victory over Pakistan on Thursday.
Chasing 177 for victory, Australia required 22 runs off the last two overs against a Pakistan side who had stormed into the semi-finals as the tournament’s only team with a perfect group record.
Hasan Ali dropped Wade in the penultimate over from Shaheen Afridi and the Australian wicketkeeper responded by hitting three sixes in a row to seal a memorable victory with one over to spare.
Wade was adjudged man-of-the-match for his 41 not out from 17 balls and Marcus Stoinis chipped in with a vital unbeaten 40.
“I think by the time that the catch drop went down, I was pretty confident we were in a really good position to get the runs,” the 33-year-old Wade said.
“If that had happened three or four overs before hand, that would dictate the outcome of the game a little bit more.”
Wade had not been too worried.
“I would still be pretty confident with Pat (Cummins) coming in and Marcus still at the crease, that we could have got the job done anyway,” he said. “I wouldn’t say that was the reason why we won the game.”
David Warner made 49 before Shadab Khan ripped the heart out of Australia’s top order with four wickets but Stoinis got their chase back on track and Wade finished it in style.
“Marcus Stoinis played a terrific innings to be able to get it to a total we started to think could be chaseable towards the end there,” Wade said.
“The way he played freed me up to be able to do what I did at the end there. The way Marcus Stoinis batted at the end, to be honest, was probably the turning-point of the match,” Wade said.
Warner was adjudged caught behind though replays did not show any edge and, surprisingly, the opener did not review the decision.
“I think there was a noise, he wasn’t sure. Maybe his bat handle clicked or his hand on his bat,” Wade said.
“He didn’t think that he hit it. But I think Glenn (Maxwell) at the other end heard the noise.”
Australia face trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in Sunday’s final in Dubai.
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in Dubai; editing by Ed Osmond)
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
