This has been a tournament of tricky, two-paced pitches, and, as a consequence, it has recorded the lowest scoring rate of any T20 World Cup. The final, however, came as close to pure T20 as anything we have seen over these past few weeks in the UAE.
The Australian T20 team is a bit of an enigma. Especially in the game’s shortest format. They weren’t among the favourites when this tournament began, but look down that line-up once more. You can’t have hitters of the calibre of David Warner, Aaron Finch and Mitch Marsh and not be a seriously good T20 team for too long.
Warner in particular impressed during the competition, being awarded Player of the Tournament. He wasn’t the only player to impress however, and Park Life Sports picked out our Top 5 players from the competition, which you can read below.
Warner and co weren’t the only players to contribute to an impressive campaign. The bowlers played their part too, but this was primarily a triumph of T20’s most vital skill: boundary hitting.
The Aussies lost their previous two T20 series’ heavily against Bangladesh and West Indies. Furthermore, players were starting to question coach Justin Langer’s tactics and team selection.
Australia did it against all the odds 👊 🇦🇺 https://t.co/gUDdt70qCM | #NZvAUS | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/AcmKfjIBRx
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) November 15, 2021
It can be seen why not a lot of people did not fancy the five-time World Cup winners chances for the championship. However, with some big names in their squad, it is never a good idea to write them off.
Apart from their one heavy defeat against rivals England, the Australians looked proactive in all their matches, especially while chasing. They completed challenging totals in the semi-final and final, with the chase in the final being a record run chase in a T20 World Cup final.
David Warner repaid the faith showed in him by his captain and coach putting in some stellar performances in the knockouts. With 289 runs at an average of 48 and strike rate of 146, Warner was awarded the Player of the Tournament becoming just the second Australian to win the award since Shane Watson first won it in 2012. Australian captain Aaron Finch was full of praise for his opening partner.
“Without a word of a lie, I promise you, I called Justin Langer a few months ago and I said ‘don’t worry about Davey, he’ll be man of the tournament’. I thought Adam Zampa should be player of the tournament personally, but [Warner]’s a great player and one of the all time batting great batters and he’s a fighter.”
Aaron Finch
His approach in the final was mature. After starting slow, he started attacking the weak links of the Kiwis bowling attack, which turned out to be the spinners. Warner was supported perfectly by Mitch Marsh who went on to win the man of the match award on the night.
With five World Cups, two Champions Trophies and one T20 World Cup to their name, Australia continue being the team to beat in world cricket. However, winning a knock out competition does require a hint of luck, so the question comes up again. Were Australia brilliant or overachievers?
To see more news following the finale of this year’s T20 World Cup, as well as the latest sporting news from Gloucestershire and beyond, make sure you stayed tuned into our Live Blog.
