South African captain Faf du Plessis believes Australia’s strong batting line-up will have a significant impact in the World Twenty20 which starts in Bangladesh next week.
“They’ve got a powerhouse batting attack,” said Du Plessis after Australia cruised to a six-wicket win over his team at SuperSport Park on Friday on the eve of the departure of both teams for the world event.
“Every one of their top seven or eight can take the game away from you,” said Du Plessis.
“That makes them very dangerous. They’ve also good quality fast bowling. They didn’t give us anything to hit in the first six overs. They have a very good chance of getting to the semi-finals.”
Starc wins it for aus
left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc led a strong Australian bowling performance and set up a comfortable six-wicket win against South Africa in the third and final Twenty20 international at SuperSport Park on Saturday.
South Africa struggled to 128 for seven after being sent in. Aaron Finch hit 39 and Shane Watson 35 as Australia cruised to victory with five overs to spare.
Man-of-the-match Starc started with a maiden and dismissed Hashim Amla in a second over which cost only three runs.
He came back later and bowled big-hitting Albie Morkel to finish with two for 16 in his four overs.
‘Pressure motivates us’
Dhaka: Pakistan will start their campaign at World T20 with a high-octane clash against India but skipper Mohammad Hafeez believes the “pressure” of locking horns against the arch-rivals in the opening match will act as a “motivation” for the side. “I always say that an India-Pakistan match is full of pressure but you enjoy playing it,” Hafeez said.
“I am happy that it’s the first match and if you do well in such an opening match you obviously feel much easier in upcoming matches. The element of pressure is actually a factor of motivation. It is always an extreme pleasure with the crowd response and we always enjoy such things,” he said.