Wade and Stoinis stun Pakistan as Australia reach final

KATHMANDU, November 12: Australia produced a sensational run chase to stun Pakistan and set up an all-Antipodean final at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021.

Matthew Wade and Marcus Stoinis did the damage late on for Australia after David Warner’s fiery 49 had set the chase up, with four wickets from Shadab Khan not enough to stem the tide.

Tasked with chasing down 177 to win the second ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semi-final, Australia were hit with Shaheen Shah Afridi at his very best in the opening over, with Finch falling for a first-ball duck and Mitchell Marsh surviving a tight LBW review off the next delivery.

Australia rode out the storm and seemed to be taking control of the match as Warner raced to a rapid 49. But spinner Shadab Khan seemed to turn the game in Pakistan's favour, taking 4/26 including a controversial dismissal of Warner, to leave the game on a knife-edge.

Yet the remarkable semi-final had one final twist in the tail, as Wade and Stoinis let fly late on to get Australia across the line and knock out the tournament’s form team.

Stoinis finished with 40 from 31 balls. But it was Wade who was the hero, with his 41 coming off just 17 deliveries, including three consecutive sixes off Afridi to seal the win with an over to spare.

The early loss of Finch brought Marsh to the crease and, after surviving Afridi’s stunning opening spell, he joined forces with Warner to lift Australia to 52/1 at the end of the Powerplay.

But the turn to Shadab ended the partnership as Marsh miscued to Asif Ali in the deep, and Steve Smith also fell to Shadab in the deep soon after, scoring just five from six.

Yet Warner kept the scoring going, with one particular ball yielding seven runs as Mohammad Hafeez got it all wrong to send a double-bouncing no-ball trickling towards Warner, who still somehow muscled it for six.

Warner looked to be taking the game away from Pakistan until he edged a Shadab googly behind one run short of his 50... or at least until it looked like he edged it behind.

Both the bowler and Rizwan raced away in celebration and a deflated Warner walked off without reviewing as the umpire raised his finger.

But replays suggested Warner had not connected with the ball, meaning there must have been some other movement or click, potentially in the bat handle, that confused all parties.

Shadab wrapped up his four-for in his final over when the dangerous Glenn Maxwell was superbly caught by Haris Rauf.

With Stoinis and Wade at the crease, the equation for Australia was strikingly similar to New Zealand’s in the first semi-final, with over 50 runs required off the final four overs.

And, while the rate of scoring wasn’t quite as high, the big hits kept flowing for Australia, while – just as there was in Wednesday’s match – a crucial catch wasn’t taken in the deep as Hasan Ali put down Wade.

And Wade took full advantage of that drop, hitting Afridi for a superb ramped six, then whipping him into the stands over midwicket, and then sealing the win with another ramp as the 19th over went for 22 runs.

Earlier, Mohammad Rizwan had punished Australia for two dropped catches as he reached another half century to help Pakistan to 176/4 after being put in to bat in the second semi-final.

Rizwan’s effort was his third fifty of the tournament and 10 of an extraordinary season of 2021 that has seen him become the first batter in T20I history to pass 1000 runs in a calendar year.

And his knock was even more impressive given coach Matthew Hayden’s reveal that the player had been in hospital as recently as Wednesday with a lung issue.

Rizwan’s platform didn’t go to waste either, with Fakhar Zaman producing a stunning display late on, smashing 55 off 22 deliveries including two enormous sixes off the final over.