T20 World Cup: Australia beat Pakistan to set up final clash with New Zealand | Cricket News – Times of India

Matthew-Stoinis duo pulls it off for Australia as Pakistan spill crucial catches
The Pakistan dream is over. And we are all set for a brand new T20 world champion.
The never-say-die attitude of Australia, coupled with some trademark shoddy fielding by Pakistan that has haunted them in the past, saw to it that Aaron Finch’s men book a berth in the final against New Zealand.
SCORECARD | AS IT HAPPENED
Australia still needed 20 off 10 and Shaheen Shah Afridi was looking to work his magic at the death. It was at this point that a mistimed pull off Matthew Wade was put down by Hasan Ali at deep square-leg and immediately the Pakistan team knew the game was going. And then followed the final onslaught by Wade –three consecutive sixes off Afridi and Australia won with an over to spare.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam would feel bitterly disappointed because they had the game virtually covered till the 16th over of the Australian innings. Chasing 175, Australia had dug themselves into a hole but it was at this point that the grit and the experience of Wade and Marcus Stoinis took over. They followed the basic principle of T20 cricket that if there are wickets in hand at the death, the game is always on.

While Wade provided the final flourish, it was Stoinis who took it upon himself to turn the game in the 17th and 18th overs bowled by Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali. Stoinis, who has played many a match-winning knock in IPL for Delhi Capitals, just picked his spots and found 28 runs in those two overs that brought them back into the game.
While Stoinis deserves all the credit, he too, was dropped early in the deep off leggie Shadab Khan and that allowed the right-hander to dig in.
It was Shadab, coming in to bowl just after Powerplay, who seemed to turn the game decisively in Pakistan’s favour. The Aussies thought they would attack the leggie, but with not much dew, he didn’t find it too tough to grip the ball. Shadab looked to keep it tight, banked mostly on his googlies, and hardly faltered in his length.
A dangerous looking Mitchell Marsh was the first to be dismissed and then it was the turn of Steve Smith, from whom the T20 game is slipping away fast. And then, after David Warner decided to walk despite the ball missing the nick, it was Glen Maxwell’s turn to go for a reverse sweep and fall.

In his four overs, Shadab had ripped the heart out of the Australian batting but from thereon Stoinis and Wade took over.
While the unheralded duo did the job at the end, it was leggie Adam Zampa who brought them back at the game when Pakistan were batting. At a time when opener Mohammed Rizwan and No. 3 Fakhar Zaman had settled in, Zampa kept it very tight. Though Pakistan had wickets in hand, they were unable to hit fifth gear in the middle overs and that proved crucial at the end.
In fact, going into the last over, Australia just hoped that they might be able to stop Pakistan to score of 165 but Zaman hit two big sixes off Mitchell Starc to take the score 175.
But at the end of the day, it didn’t prove enough with Pakistan spilling the chances just when it mattered.