It is going to be a Trans-Tasman affair in the final of T20 World Cup 2021 as Australia beat Pakistan in their backyard in a nerve-wrecking semi-final by five wickets with one over to spare. The Marcus Stoinis and Mathew Wade partnership for the sixth wicket prevented Pakistan from reaching their third T20 World Cup final. Australia handed Babar Azam-led Pakistan their first loss in the tournament and also ended their winning streak of 16 T20Is in UAE.
Shaheen Shah Afridi's T20 World Cup which started with the three big wickets of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli ended in an absolute heartbreak as Wade hit him for a hat-trick of sixes in the penultimate over to chase down the target of 177. This is the second time Australia have beaten Pakistan in a semi-final. There were shades of the 2010 semi-final win as well with Wade successfully tonking Pakistan's best bowler in death overs to win it for the team. Hasan Ali may have made a mistake that will haunt him for a long time as he dropped Wade's catch on the third ball of the 19th over, just before he went berserk.
Stoinis, Wade turn it around
After Australia lost half of the team in the 13th over of the run chase, Marcus Stoinis played a rampant knock to keep them in the hunt. Stoinis used his BBL experience to take on Haris Rauf and also targetted an out-of-form Hasan while Wade warmed up on the other end. The wicketkeeper-batter took over from Stoinis in the final overs and used left-arm pacer's raw pace to hit three sixes in a row and end the run chase. The two shared an unbeaten 81-run stand for the sixth wicket which is also the highest unbeaten stand in a T20 World Cup semi-final. Stoinis and Wade remained unbeaten for 31-ball 40 and 17-ball 41 respectively.
Shadab’s record-breaking spell
Leg-spinner Shadab Khan may have bowled the T20I spell of his life. Shadab took four wickets for 26 runs in his quota of four overs, the most by any bowler in a semi-final of T20 World Cup. The leggie broke the back of Australia’s batting lineup getting the wickets of Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell and opener David Warner. The wicket that stood out was Maxwell's as he was dismissed while playing a reverse sweep.
Warner throws it away
After the wicket of Aaron Finch in the first over to Afridi, Warner took control of the run chase. Warner shared a 51-run partnership for the second wicket with Mitchell Marsh to do some damage control. Despite wickets falling at the other end, Warner was looking to anchor Australia’s run chase but he got out in a controversial manner in the 11th over. The left-handed batter tried to play a cut shot off Pakistan leggie and was adjudged out. The Aussie opener walked back to the pavilion and did not opt for DRS but the ultraedge showed that there was no bat involved. Even the replay showed that there was a big gap between bat and ball. Warner missed out on his half-century by just one run. He had hit three fours and three sixes in his innings.
Zaman shows up for big game
Fakhar Zaman was not in the best of the forms having scored just 54 runs from four appearances. One day before the semi-final, batting coach Mathew Hayden showed his faith in the out-of-form batter to score big in the knockout clash. Zaman started off slow but helped Pakistan finish with a flourish with an unbeaten 32-ball 55 including three fours and four big sixes. He made up for Asif Ali’s golden duck and hit two big sixes off Mitchell Starc in the last over.
Sloppy Australian fielders
Australians are known as one of the most acrobatic fielding sides in the world. However, in the semi-final it wasn’t the case. In the third over, Australia had a chance to break the partnership as Azam miscued an aerial shot off Glenn Maxwell. David Warner ran towards the straight boundary from the edge of the circle and did the hard yards but could not complete the catch.
On the last ball of the powerplay overs, Rizwan got another life as Adam Zampa put down a chance while diving forward in the long leg region. It was a half chance but Australia desperately needed to break the partnership. In the penultimate over, Steve Smith put down a relatively easy catch of Zaman who was hitting big shots in death overs. Zaman went on to hit two sixes in the last over and help Pakistan put on 176/4.
Rizwan, Babar put Pakistan in front
The opening pair did not disappoint in the big game and put Pakistan in front with once again. The skipper talked about scoring well in the powerplay overs in the pre-match press conference and they succeeded in doing that by putting 47 runs on the board during fielding restrictions. The 71-run partnership is the third fifty-plus partnership by the pair in the tournament. While Azam got out for 39, Rizwan carried on and scored 67 runs from 52 deliveries to help lay a platform for big total in the first innings.
