Australian captain Aaron Finch said his team “needed a bit of luck” to get the better of South Africa in their ICC T20 World Cup opener here on Saturday.
Australia’s batters did just enough to eke out a five-wicket win in the last over after their bowlers set it up with a fine display, restricting the opposition to 118 for nine on a pitch where playing strokes was not the easiest of jobs.
At one point, Australia were reeling at 81 for five in the 16th over, leaving the game evenly poised before Marcus Stoinis (24 not out) sealed it in his team’s favour with two fours in the final over.
“The dugout was probably a bit more relaxed than I was. Anytime it comes down to the wire but Stoinis and (Matthew) Wade kept their cool there. It’s what experience can do,” Finch said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
The skipper also praised all-rounder Glenn Maxwell who chipped in with the ball before getting out for 18 with the bat.
“We felt there were good match-ups for him in the powerplay, and then (David) Miller came in and they couldn’t go hard, they were in a bit of a holding pattern (so it worked out).”
Regarding Man of the Match Josh Hazlewood, who returned excellent figures of 2/19 in four overs, Finch said, “Ideally I would have been able to push him for a third in the powerplay, he’s a world class bowler in any form of the game.
“People say that’s easy in this format but when you get it right on a pitch with variation, it can get tough.”
