Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade shared an unbeaten 40-run stand to take Australia home.
Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis revealed that staying calm in the end was key for him to take his team home in an ICC T20 World Cup 2021 clash against South Africa.
The clash between Australia and South Africa saw the Aaron Finch-led side dominating the major part of the match. Opting to bowl first, they restricted South Africa to a total of just 118 runs as every bowler chipped in and took wickets at regular intervals.
While chasing the target, Australia didn’t have the greatest of starts as they were reduced to 39/3 with the top three back in the hut. The duo of Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell steadied the innings but both perished within the span of three balls, leaving their team in all sorts of trouble.
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Marcus Stonis and Mathew Wade then stitched a crucial partnership and snatched victory for their team after it seemed that Australians were derailing off the track.
Speaking after the match Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis said that the main thing for him was to stay calm in the end and he along with Mathew Wade made a plan to keep their cools and see the team past the finish line.
"The main thing for me there was trying to stay as calm as I can and for a Greek-Australian, that's pretty hard. You saw a bit of emotion come out towards the end, but the main thing is Wadey and I were just communicating, trying to sort out who was going to bowl each over and making a plan and then staying calm from there,” ICC quoted Stoinis as saying.
While talking about the pitch, Stoinis said that it was hard to get under the ball as it was skidding a bit but building partnerships and getting used to conditions will be key while batting.
He also talked about the importance of intuitive thinking on the field and said that low-scoring games are likely to be a trend throughout the T20 World Cup.
"It is what we expected to an extent but it was quite hard to get under the ball because it was skidding on quite a bit and wasn't too quick. I guess partnerships are the key, building partnerships and getting used to the conditions while you are out there.
“It's one thing having a plan but you've also got to work things out on the fly while you are out there. We saw through the IPL the scores weren't as high as they have been in the past and that might be a trend that we see through the World Cup,” he said.
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Marcus Stoinis pointed out that it’s important to start the tournament on the right foot. He remarked that it’s a good sign for Australia for things ahead.
“I think it's important to start tournaments like this on the right foot, it's obvious you want to win but in these short tournaments, no matter how you win, it's always a better feeling when you wake up the next morning. Hopefully, it's a good sign for things ahead," he concluded.
Josh Hazelwood for his figures of 2/19 was awarded the Player of the Match. The Australian Cricket Team will next take on Sri Lanka on 28th October.
(ANI inputs)