
Aaron Finch-led Australia defeated Pakistan in the second semi-final of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup on Thursday (November 11) to set up the title clash with New Zealand. At the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Matthew Wade and Marcus Stoinis stood unbeaten to chase the 177-run target with one over to spare.
The win, however, was not easy as the Australian team was in trouble at 96-5 when Stoinis (40) and Wade, who hit the winning six in his 41, put on 81 runs to finish off the match. Wade, who was dropped by Hasan Ali on 21, smashed three straight sixes off Shaheen Shah Afridi in the 19th over to set up a title clash with New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday.
The thrilling match saw several memorable moments withups and downs and kept the audience ontheir toes. One such moment occurred in the seventh over when Australia was chasing. Mohammad Hafeez came into the attack with a rather unique delivery.
He lost control of the ball as it bounced twice before reaching the batter - once near his foot and again near David Warner, who didn't miss the opportunity and smashed a sixer over deep mid-wicket. The on-field umpire signalled it as a no-ball. Warner scored 49 off 30 balls.
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After the match, the winning skipperAaron Finch said, "Never thought it was in the bag. It was a great game of cricket. The way Wade held his nerve at the end was amazing. That partnership with Stoinis was crucial. I got my feet in a tangle and opening batsmen do get a few good balls now and then in T20 cricket."\
Put in to bat, Pakistan got off to a strong start with Mohammad Rizwan (67) and skipper Babar Azam (39) forging a 71-run partnership for the opening wicket and helping their side post 176-4.