Matthew Wade, the hero of Australia’s one of the better wins in T20 format on Thursday against Pakistan in the second semi-final of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup commended his partner in the chase Marcus Stoinis for turning the game on its head inn the 17th over.
Wade reckoned that the dropped catch by Hasan Ali in the 19th over and the two run-out chances weren’t major game-changing moments but Stoinis’ couple of strikes against Haris Rauf in the 17th over definitely were.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Wade said, “I don’t think any of them [the drop and missed run-out chances] were the turning points of the match. I think the way Marcus Stoinis batted at the end, to be honest, was probably the turning point of the match. I think when I came out there, he might have hit the spinner [Shadab Khan] for six, the first ball when I got out there. I think that kind of play, in my eyes, he’s really gutsy in those decisions that you make out in the middle, win you games. He could’ve easily blocked that ball he went for, hit a six and then that total comes down a little bit more.
“But I think the turning point of the game I thought was Marcus’s over against Rauf. I thought that kind of swung the momentum our way and gave us an opportunity to win the game. It’s just an easy thing to do to focus in on missed chances. Yes, maybe it would have gone down late in the last over, but I’m still confident we could have gone home,” he added.
Leg-spinner Shadab was in the middle of a sensational spell taking four wickets and having removed Maxwell on the previous ball, many would have thought that Stoinis-Wade being the last batting pair, they would play him out but on the next delivery, Stoinis thumped him out of the ground for a six.
However, they were behind the rate and needed 50 runs off the last four overs. Stoinis smashed a six and a four of Haris Rauf to keep Australia’s hopes alive, however, it was Wade who landed the decisive blows. He hit a six and a four in the 18th over of the innings bowled by Hasan Ali.
Then in the 19th over, a dropped catch by Hasan followed by three sixes off Shaheen Afridi meant Matthew Wade had done the job for his side and Australia were through to the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Stoinis might still have finished with Pat Cummins to come, however, the drop catch did play its part in Wade finishing the game and Pakistan not being able to do so.
