Hayden-Langer ‘bromance’ to face ultimate test in semi-final

Hayden versus Langer. The duel in the desert. It’s on … almost.

Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer walk out to bat during the Bushfire Cricket Bash T20 match between the Ponting XI and the Gilchrist XI at Junction Oval last year.

Hayden versus Langer. The duel in the desert. It’s on … almost.

The Langer-coached Australia will line up against Pakistan, batting coached by Hayden, in the World Cup semi-final unless Scotland performs a miracle and beats Pakistan in their final pool game.

The stakes for the long-time opening duo are huge in different ways. The last time Australia made the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup was in Sri Lanka in 2012 when current selector George Bailey was skipper.

Langer, who had a traumatic off-season as coach due to player unrest, has secured a pass mark by making the semi-finals of the tournament, with Australia dropping just one pool game, against the rampaging England.

From here on it’s about chasing the cream.

For Hayden, it’s an entirely different narrative.

He had no major designs on being an international coach until approached out of the blue by Pakistan, who noted he was coming to the UAE for IPL commentary and asked if he could stay on. He has enjoyed the journey but no part of him will be defined by what happens in the finals.

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Hayden is lucky he does not have Curtly Ambrose in the dressing room. The great West Indian fast bowler used to listen to music with headphones at team meetings because he reckoned his life was already sorted.

“Have all the theories you like but if a fast bowler hits one great line and one great length then the rest takes care of itself, no matter where you are or who you are playing,’’ was his mantra.

The admirable Josh Hazlewood is living that creed at the World Cup.

Match after match he is testing batsmen by grinding away on a good length which will challenge batsmen in T20 as much as it does in Tests, perhaps even more because they are under pressure to attack it. He went for 39 against the West Indies but his four wickets were decisive.

Look for Australia to try and use Hazlewood to extract Pakistan dangerman Babar Azam in the semi-final.

The towering quick has Babar’s scalp six times in 10 Test innings and knows the areas to test him.

Another key player is Mitchell Marsh. It seems we have spent the past decade referring to him as a “young’’ all-rounder. Suddenly he’s 30 and closer to the end of his career than the beginning of it.

It’s been a bumpy old ride and the gap between potential and performance is still there but to his credit Marsh, who made 53 off 32 balls against the West Indies, has never stopped working hard and trying to improve himself.

Opposing teams see him as vulnerable to spin but his work against the crafty West Indian slow men, including a reverse sweep off dangerous leggie Hayden Walsh and a daring inside out six over mid-off off Akeal Hosein, showed he is improving against the slow men, as was evident during recent one-day series against the West Indies and Bangladesh.

A decade has passed since Marsh was dubbed the next big thing of Australian cricket after starring for the national under-19 team.

He never quite got there – and Cameron Green may block his path back to the Test team – but he can still be a handy white-ball player for many years.

He provided excellent support to veteran opener David Warner against the West Indies.

Warner’s rousing 89 off 56 was one of his best white-ball innings in years.

The din about his recent form woes was getting louder by the day but even Warner’s calling for quick singles was loud, clear and concise.

Commentator Shane Watson said Warner was at his best at the crease when he stood still, played late and didn’t try and over hit the ball. He did all of that.

At age 35, the challenges for Warner are ongoing but Pakistan will be nervous about facing him in the semi-finals because if he bats for 10 overs, their tournament could be over.