New Zealand pacer Tim Southee believes that his team will not be getting carried away in the T20 World Cup 2021 final against Australia. He also is unfazed about the perception of New Zealand being an underdog.
New Zealand defied odds in the first semifinal against England as they chased down 60 runs in the last five overs to win the game. James Neesham and Daryl Mitchell tore the England bowling line-up apart in the death overs and scored the runs with one over to spare.
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On the other hand, Australia also defeated favourites Pakistan in their semfinal. Aussies needed to score 62 runs in the last five overs as Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade went on to achieve the target with one over to go.
“You hear all the outside noise, but as a group, we just try and stay pretty level. We don’t beat ourselves up if we lose a game,” Southee admitted.
“Look at the first game against Pakistan, we weren’t too far off, we didn’t try and reinvent the wheel, we just knew we had to make small adjustments and improve in certain areas.
“We’ve assessed the conditions reasonably well. We’ve had to chop and change between venues, day games and night games, but as a whole, we’ve been pretty consistent and quick in adapting. We’ve done that throughout the tournament. One of the strengths of the side is just to stay level in everything we do, but we’ve definitely been a lot more consistent in world events, especially.”
Australia hold an edge over New Zealand when it comes to T20I cricket but New Zealand won the only match between the two teams when they played in the last T20 World Cup in 2016 in India.
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“Australia have been a very strong side for a long time,” added Southee. “We haven’t played them in a final since 2015 but – I know they weren’t at full strength – we beat them in a T20 series not so long ago,” he added.
“We know they’re a dangerous side but it’s a final, anything can happen. I don’t think there’s any fear, we’ve played against some quality opposition throughout the tournament.
“They’re very similar to the England line-up where they’ve got dangerous batters throughout, but as a bowler you want to challenge yourself against the best and Australia have got plenty of quality players.”
The final will be played on November 14 at Dubai International Stadium.
