The star of the semi-final clash against Pakistan for Australia — Matthew Wade — has opened up on how he played the final of the T20 World Cup with an injury. In an interaction before the final against New Zealand, he sustained a grade two-side strain. The T20 World Cup winner said that when he was a bit worried before the night of the game and thought that if he will not be able to swing the bat then he would not play the final.
“That would hurt the team a lot”
Australia were ready to take on New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final on November 14. Both the sides were evenly balanced and had reached the final in some similar run chases against their respective opponents.
“I was a little bit worried the night before the game, for sure. If I had woken up and I couldn’t swing the bat, I wouldn’t have played. I was worried that if we’d batted first and I had to go as hard as I could and I tore it then, I wouldn’t be able to keep and that would hurt the team a lot. But in my mind, they would have had to strap me to the bed,” the wicket-keeper batter told cricket.com.au.
“I was always going to go out there and play. But I wouldn’t have played if there was a chance it was going to hurt the team. I went and hit some balls before the game and bluffed my way through that. Then they made me hit a few more, but I got through it and it felt pretty fine,” he added.
Star of the semi-final
The 33-year-old batter was the star of the show against Pakistan in the semi-final. Wade along with Marcus Stoinis snatched victory from Pakistan in a tricky run chase. When Australia needed 18 runs from last nine balls, Wade smashed Pakistan bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi for three consecutive sixes and sealed their berth in the final. Wade remained unbeaten for 41 runs in just 17 balls sharing an unbeaten 81-run partnership with Stoinis.
