The Australian wicket-keeper batter, Matthew Wade became the talk of the town as he played a similar knock to that of Michael Hussey, which also came against Pakistan 11 years ago in St Lucia to Saeed Ajmal. This time Shaheen Afridi, Pakistan’s best bowler of the tournament, was at the receiving end of the assault. With 18 runs needed off nine balls, Wade looked in a hurry and decided to finish the game in the penultimate over itself by smashing three consecutive maximums.
However, just before the three sixes, Hasan Ali had dropped Matthew Wade in the same over. What followed off the next three balls was carnage and absolutely unexpected for everyone. Wade’s place was always questioned ahead of the T20 World Cup especially batting down the order but when it mattered the most, the man showed his range and his steely nerves.
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As for the sixes, it started with Matthew Wade taking the bowler by surprise executing the coop shot to perfection. The equation then came down to 12 runs off the last eight balls and Pakistan still had a chance but probably pressure got to Shaheen Afridi. He landed one on length right into the batter’s arc and Matthew Wade was more than ready to smack the ball into the stands.
With only six runs needed off seven balls, the shoulders were down for Pakistan and Afridi as well. Matthew Wade was looking confident but then, not a lot of people expected of him to finish the game with a six, surely not with another scoop. Well, it was his day and the man once again played the scoop shot with utmost precision to stunningly take his side over the line with one over in hand.
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All the three sixes were absolutely classic and the perfect example of how T20 Cricket has changed batting. Well, not many had thought Australia and New Zealand would be playing the final of the T20 World Cup in Asia.
Here’s the video:
https://twitter.com/ddsportschannel/status/1458853418559160320?s=20
