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Australia's march into the final of the T20 World Cup is not surprising, skipper Aaron Finch said on Saturday, stressing that his team has the depth to go the distance and clinch a maiden title. Australia had come into the ICC event after losing all the series played this year. They lost to New Zealand, West Indies and Bangladesh in the lead-up to the tournament. On Thursday however, Australia beat Pakistan by five wickets in the second semifinal of the T20 showpiece to set up a summit clash against New Zealand. "It wasn't unexpected. We came here with a clear plan to try and win this tournament. We always felt that we have the depth and quality to do that," Finch said on the eve of Sunday's final. "Lot of people had written us off from the start, so it has been really impressive the way we have gone about our business. Everyone has prepared really well and had match-defining performances at some point, the guys are up and about for tomorrow. "We had a lot of confidence within, we
Top Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi has been reprimanded by former captain Shahid Afridi for conceding three successive sixes in the T20 World Cup semifinal against Australia. Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid, who is known for his straight forward views, said he was not happy with the way Shaheen had bowled in the 19th over of the semifinal on Thursday night in Dubai. Matthew Wade played a sensational knock, which included three sixes off Shaheen in the penultimate over, to ensure a five wicket win for Australia. I am not happy with Shaheen in one area. Okay so Hasan Ali dropped a catch but that does not mean you will bowl badly and get hit for three successive sixes, Shahid Afridi said on Samaa TV channel. Shaheen has so much pace and he should have used it sensibly. Even if the catch was dropped. He should have used his head and tried to bowl outside off stump fast Yorkers with his pace. He is not that sort of bowler to be hit like that," the former Pakistan captain. Afri
Pakistan skipper and batter Babar Azam has broken the record of scoring the most runs by any player in their first T20 World Cup on Thursday.Babar Azam achieved this feat during the second semi-final clash of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup between Australia and Pakistan here at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.Pakistan skipper is at the top of the tally with 269 runs, followed by Australia's Matthew Hayden and England's Joe Root with 265 and 249 runs, respectively.Coming to the match, Australia skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and opted to bowl. While Australia finished at the second spot in Group 1 after winning four matches out of five, Pakistan topped Group 2 of the Super 12 stage after winning all five matches.
Pakistan batters Mohammad Rizwan and Shoaib Malik have been declared fit by the medical team to play the semi-final match of the ongoing ICC T20 Men's World Cup against Australia on Thursday.According to ESPNcricinfo, both the batters have tested negative for COVID-19 twice in three days. Despite that, medical professionals travelling with the team continued to assess them at regular intervals through Wednesday and Thursday.Earlier on Wednesday, Rizwan and Malik had missed the team's practice session due to mild flu. An official described the condition of two batters as "light flu and low fever". Rizwan and Malik's training was delayed but the two batters had to miss out on practice.Both players, especially Rizwan, have been key to Pakistan's plans and performances in the tournament so far, where they have run up a 5-0 record, having swept the Group 2 matches on their way to the semi-final.Rizwan, one half of a tremendous opening pairing with captain Babar Azam, has scored 214 runs in