Favourites Australia a formidable force
IT’S worth remembering the weeks leading up to the T20 World Cup tournament in Dubai last year, when Australia was given little to no chance of winning that tournament.
In 15 matches before the event, Australia lost 11 times.
Admittedly four of those were in “extreme” conditions in Bangladesh, but still, it’s Australia and going into the 2021 World Cup they were expected to be bit-part players. But it’s Australia, so… Then they won six of their next seven matches and were chugging bad beer in the dressing rooms at the Dubai Cricket Stadium.
But those refreshments would have tasted sweeter because over the course of a three-week journey, that started with a bizarre match against South Africa where it looked at times as if both teams wanted to lose, Australia found something – well, several things actually. David Warner found form and finished as the Player of the Tournament, Josh Hazlewood was actually a good T20 bowler, Mitch Marsh wasn’t a muscular brute who only performed when the going was good and Matthew Wade was a “finisher”.
It was Wade’s epic 17-ball unbeaten 41 in the semifinal against pre-tournament favourites Pakistan that sealed the turnaround for the Australians. Since that tournament, they’ve won 15 of 23 T20 Internationals, and quite rightly go into this year’s competition as favourites. They have arguably the best attack among all the participating teams, with Mitchell Starc an ace, Hazlewood’s still there, as is the magnificent Pat Cummins.
They have good all-rounder strength in Marcus Stoinis and Marsh – although the latter’s bowling has been restricted to the odd over here or there. Tim David is an interesting addition to this year’s squad. Born in Singapore, he produced some heavyweight performances in the Big Bash, as well as for Singapore in the lower tiers of international competition.
He played his first match for Australia against India in September, and
the home team will hope his big hitting prowess – he has a strike rate of 163.32 – will provide an X-factor in the middle order. Indeed, Australia’s middle order looms as a threat, with David, Glenn Maxwell and Wade all capable of changing a match in a matter of a few balls. With Adam Zampa – currently the sixth-highest ranked T20 International bowler – and Ashton Agar also in the squad to provide spin options, the home team head into this year’s World Cup in much better shape than was the case last year. Back then, no one gave them a chance; that isn’t the case now.