T20 World Cup: Aaron Finch sheds the cobwebs just when Australian needs him
When your engine is as big as Aaron Finch’s it can be tough to get it running, but that’s just what he did against Bangladesh – Robert Craddock reveals why that’s so important.
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There’s a million ideas on how a battling batsman can find his fifth gear and the most ancient of all is the ol’ “rusty gate’’ theory.
Just swing like a rusty gate or a bar room door in a hurricane and if you connect with a few, suddenly, the old coaches tell us, the muscle memory kicks in, the pistons start running, and away you go.
Aaron Finch had nibbled along at roughly a run a ball rate for his last two innings of 37 and 44 in the World T20 – not bad but not special – but with everything on the line and a quick kill looming, the Bangladesh game was the chance to clean the pipes and switch on the afterburners.
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Finch looked ungainly at times as he opened up but his best strikes were genuine cobweb snappers and the result quite spectacular – 40 runs off 20 balls including two fours and four sixes.
For the first time in a long time he looked like a man without a handbrake. There was no fear. Just rough and raw intent.
This sweet and short innings could prove the turning point of Australia’s campaign if it reopens the gate between Finch and his most imposing form.
One thing is clear. The anchormen at the top of the order – Finch and David Warner – are going to have to provide a spring-loaded start to get past Pakistan in a semi-final and perhaps England in the final.
The stats tell the story. When either of the duo goes big Australia normally wins and when they go big together Australia is almost unbeatable. When they both fail so normally, does Australia.
GONE WITH THE WINDIES
Diabolical or dangerous?
It’s hard to know what effect being out of finals reckoning will have on the West Indies against Australia on Saturday night.
They could be liberated or totally listless. They might even be both at different staged of the match.
This much is certain. Chris Gayle, 42 years old and looking every one of them, is set to play his final World T20 or World Cup innings for the Windies.
Gayle had a media shootout with Curtly Ambrose before the tournament when the great quick expressed serious concerns over Gayle’s form over the past 18 months and said he did not deserve to be an automatic selection.
With scores of 13, 12, 4 and 1, Gayle has been a shadow of the man who has 22 T20 centuries and Ambrose has won the argument.
If Australia beat the Windies they will almost certainly make the semi-finals even if South Africa beat England in the final pool game because the Proteas are now well behind Australia on run rate.
SPIN A WEB
When T20 started many punters feared it would be the death the slow bowler … how wrong we were.
Adam Zampa has a first class bowling average of 48 because in red ball cricket it’s up to him to attack the batter.
But in the T20 cricket game when it’s the other way around Zampa’s clever assortment of deliveries which challenge both edges of the bat, delivered at night-time with a white ball seam that is difficult to detect, make him a formidable challenge for the world’s best batsman.
Zampa’s 5-19 against Bangladesh, which have made him the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, will hopefully inspire younger generations of slow men to stick the craft.
HAYDOS MAGIC
Matthew Hayden never expected to be spending his 50th birthday in the UAE with the Pakistan team but his late linking with the in-form side has been an unexpected bonus for him.
Hayden was recruited by Pakistan as a batting coach on the advice of the nation’s Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He told Fox Sports one of the things that had impressed him most with the team was their humility in the dressing room after a win and their deep spirituality. It will be interesting to see whether Pakistan make any attempt to secure Hayden on a longer term deal if they win the tournament.
PREMEDITATED ‘VIOLENCE’ HAS USSIES BACK IN BOX SEAT
By Steve Barrett
Legspinner Adam Zampa confirmed Australia’s violent assault on Bangladesh’s bowlers in Dubai was a premeditated strategy to heal an ailing net run-rate, but wasn’t mentioned until moments before the batting innings.
Australia’s focus during the week had been on banking wins against Bangladesh and West Indies while hoping for a heavy South African loss to England in the last Group 1 match.
But that all changed after the Aussies rolled Bangladesh for a pitiful 73.
The calculators came out, revealing a successful chase inside 8.1 overs would bump Australia past the Proteas on net run-rate and into the box seat for a semi-final berth.
“There was a bit of a conversation we had about not worrying about net run-rate,” Zampa said of the original plan.
“Just trying to win these two games (against Bangladesh and West Indies) was what we spoke about.
“But once we bowled them (Bangladesh) out for 73, we did have a conversation in the changerooms before the batting innings about getting the runs before the eighth over.”
Australia’s blitz with the bat – achieving victory in 6.2 overs – came after Zampa’s brilliance with the ball.
His career-best 5-19 completely wrecked Bangladesh’s clueless middle and lower order and moved him to first place on the Super 12s wicket-taking leaderboard.
It was Zampa’s maiden international five-wicket haul but he narrowly missed a career-first hat-trick when wicketkeeper Matthew Wade spilt a tough chance to reprieve Taskin Ahmed.
“Because I got the two wickets three overs before my next ball, I actually didn’t think anyone else knew I was on a hat-trick,” Zampa said.
“I actually wanted it that way because I didn’t want the batsman to know either.
“I said ‘oh Wadey, that was my hat trick mate,’. He said ‘I know, I tried to catch it for you’.”
Zampa expects Australia’s pace attack to ruffle up some ageing West Indian batters in Saturday’s crunch match in Abu Dhabi.
The Windies smoked Australia 4-1 in the Caribbean last winter and are the reigning T20 World Cup champions, but have been inconsistent this tournament.
“Pretty important game for us, as everyone knows,” Zampa said.
“They’re such a dangerous side, particularly for me personally as a spin bowler – they’ve got guys who can hit it out of the park so I’m going to have to be on my game.
“But we’ve got the big quicks who we feel like will be an ace against these guys.”
AUSTRALIA V BANGLADESH: HOW THE MATCH WAS WON
A career-best leg-spinning masterclass from Adam Zampa followed by Aaron Finch’s deliberately violent assault with the bat catapulted Australia to a ridiculously easy belting of Bangladesh in Dubai and into the box seat for a T20 World Cup semi-final berth.
Coming off a thoroughly inept display against England last weekend, everything went perfectly to plan for the Aussies against Bangladesh — from the time they won the toss, dismantled the Tigers’ top-order and ultimately skittled them for a completely inadequate 73.
After entering the clash trailing second-placed South Africa in net run-rate by a decisive 1.369, Australia punched the numbers and worked out during the innings break that it needed to reel in Bangladesh’s modest total within 8.1 overs.
Propelled by Finch, the Aussies did it with laughable ease, with 82 balls and eight wickets left in the shed to leapfrog the Proteas in the standings.
Finch, who was forced to play a sheet-anchor opening role in last weekend’s big loss to England as wickets tumbled at the other end, bludgeoned Bangladesh’s bowlers from the outset.
Finch’s stand-and-deliver approach produced 40 off 20 balls, including four sixes.
Opening partner David Warner was less convincing, castled by left-arm paceman Shoriful Islam for 18, before recalled No. 3 Mitch Marsh finished off the rout with a massive pulled six off Taskin Ahmed.
To make it unequivocal, Australia still needs to beat reigning champions the West Indies in Abu Dhabi on Saturday and preferably hope South Africa doesn’t snap England’s unconquered run in the last Group 1 fixture.
Well done to the Aussie boys in the #ICCT20WorldCup2021 hammering B’desh ! Loved the attitude of the boys. No fear & all went into beast mode. More of that & the boys will have a huge say in this WC. I know B’desh are way out of form but the attitude was there tonight !
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) November 4, 2021
Bangladesh’s batters looked completely out of their depth with a flurry of poorly executed shots in the face of Australia’s hostile, relentless bowling attack, spearheaded by the brilliant Zampa, who captured a career-best 5-19.
Shamim Hossain’s 19 down the order and opener Naim Sheikh’s 17 were the best in another awful display with the bat for Bangladesh — rolled for 84 by South Africa on Tuesday — after slumping to 5-33 soon after the powerplay, and never really recovering.
SO CLOSE
Bangladesh’s batters simply had no answer for Zampa’s accuracy and subtle variations.
He dismissed Afif Hossain with his first ball — edging a wrong’un to Finch at slip — and continued taking poles.
He had Shamim caught behind by Matthew Wade before trapping Mahedi Hasan lbw with another googly the very next ball.
Zampa was unfortunate to miss the hat-trick — after Wade grassed the catch behind off a thick edge from Taskin.
And he let the Australian gloveman know about it.
“That was the hat-trick ball,” Zampa called down the pitch.
“Yeah, I tried to catch it,” Wade replied.
STARC STEAMS IN
Described during the week by Test legend Shane Warne as being “nowhere” and described as “floating” to the crease by Mark Waugh, Mitchell Starc was back to his best on Thursday.
His first delivery was full, swung late and packed 145km/h of heat.
Starc started Bangladesh’s rot when he bowled opener Litton Das for a duck in the first over and looked to have his old rhythm back.
“I’ve had a few days to try to find some rhythm in my run-up,” Starc said, relishing the break after being walloped by England’s Jos Buttler in his last stint in the middle.
“We’ve had to put the last fixture (against England) out of our minds and come today to rectify that and “I’m sure we did that with the ball.
“To get some swing early is something I obviously try to do and I found a bit today which was really nice.”
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