Wade says Australia to be careful on reviews after Warner miss

DUBAI: Australia’s Matthew Wade said the team will work better on referrals in the Twenty20 World Cup final after David Warner walked off caught behind without an apparent edge in Thursday’s semi-final win over Pakistan.

The Aussies won by five wickets after Wade and Marcus Stoinis put on an unbeaten stand of 81 to chase down their target of 177 to set up a title clash with New Zealand on Sunday.

The left-handed Warner gave the team a blazing start before he fell to Shadab Khan’s leg-spin and walked after being given caught behind for 49 off 30 balls.

But replays suggested the ball made no contact with the bat before heading into the gloves of Mohammad Rizwan as Pakistan celebrated the key wicket amid raucous shouts from the crowd.

“I think there was a noise, he wasn’t sure. Maybe his bat handle clicked or his hand on his bat,” Wade said of the dismissal.

“He didn’t think that he hit it. But I think Glenn (Maxwell) at the other end heard the noise. To be fair, the bat was out there. That was the only thing maybe it could have been. He was potentially thinking that he might have hit it.”

“Hopefully something that doesn’t happen in the next match. But we’ve just got to work it out. The thing is you get two (reviews) in these formats. We should have used it.”

Shadab got four wickets including Mitchell Marsh (28), Steve Smith (five), Maxwell (seven) with Australia in trouble at 96-5.

It was then the left-right batting pair of Wade and Stoinis stood firm and took the attack to the opposition.

Wade smoked Shaheen Shah Afridi for three straight sixes in the 19th over — after being dropped on 21 by Hasan Ali — to bring up victory and a shot at a maiden T20 World Cup title for Australia.

He said they had “confidence” in their ability to close off the chase.

“To be able to bat with Marcus has been awesome. Obviously played a lot of cricket with him at Victoria and early on in his career. Obviously saw him grow into the cricketer he is today,” he said.

“I know if I can just hang with him for four or five overs, then he’s going to find the boundary. He’s too good and strong.”

Wade said he did not specifically target Shaheen who rattled opposition batsmen throughout the tournament.

“We certainly didn’t go into the game targeting,” Wade said. “He’s a terrific bowler, and I just got lucky tonight, I suppose.”

Also Read

Wade, Stoinis snatch victory from Pakistan as Australia book place in final of ICC T20 World Cup

Outstanding performance from Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan was not...