On Saturday, Australia will look for misfiring David Warner to rediscover his form against South Africa in the first game of the T20 World Cup’s Super 12s round (today).
Australia and South Africa, both vying for their first T20 world title, begin the final round at Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.
In the second game of the day, the defending champions West Indies face England in Dubai in a rematch of 2016 final in Kolkata.
Warner is a proven match-winner, but he has had a bad run in the format recently.
He was recently released by his Indian Premier League (IPL) team, Sunrisers Hyderabad, who also competed in the UAE.
The 34-year-old opener hasn’t played a T20I this year, and he only scored 186 runs in 2020.
Also Read; ICC T20 World Cup Pakistan announce 12-member squad for India game
“I believe in Dave’s abilities. “I support his decision,” Australia captain Aaron Finch said.
“If you look at his World Cup record, I think he’s just bloody good.” Would he have preferred more runs? Absolutely. Everyone wishes for more runs all of the time.
“He’s one of the greatest players Australia has ever produced, and I have no doubts that he’ll be up and firing and ready to go come Game 1.”
ICC T20 WORLD CUP: AUSTRALIA BANK ON BOWLERS FOR MAIDEN TITLE
Warner has scored 457 runs in 14 T20Is against South Africa, more than any other country. His overall average is a commendable 35.35.
South Africa is missing AB de Villiers, who announced his retirement from international cricket earlier this year, as well as former captain Faf du Plessis, who was available for selection but was not chosen.
However, the team is on a seven-match winning streak in T20 internationals, including series victories against the West Indies, Ireland, and Sri Lanka – all of which have come away from home.
‘Unforgiving media, fans’
Temba Bavuma, the country’s captain, is hoping to end a long run of failure at International Cricket Council (ICC) events since the country won the ICC Knock-Out Trophy, the forerunner of the Champions Trophy, in 1998.
Since then, they’ve competed in 19 tournaments, reaching the semi-finals nine times but never making it to the final.
“We understand that our fans and the media are quite harsh,” Bavuma said.
“Over the last few years, we have been heavily criticized by the media as a group.
“We’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing, staying together as a team, as a family.”
Meanwhile, West Indies captain Kieron Pollard has revealed that his team has been watching footage of their dramatic 2016 World Cup victory. “As a team, we actually saw it last night and it brought goosebumps back to us,” Pollard said of England’s famous final win five years ago.
England was on the verge of victory in Kolkata when Carlos Brathwaite hit four sixes in a row off Ben Stokes in the final over to give the West Indies their second T20 world title.
“Being in that situation and getting over the line demonstrates our never-say-die attitude.” As a team, we are excited to try and replicate [that performance] and win the entire tournament.
Those kinds of memories stick with us.”
England captain Eoin Morgan has stated that the loss will leave no scars on his team as they attempt to add the T20 World Cup to the 50-over World Cup they won under his leadership two years ago.
“I think if there were scars, we would have lost a lot of players who would not have progressed as much as they have in the last four or five years,” Morgan insisted.
There are 12 teams left in the tournament, which is divided into two groups, with the top two from each group advancing to the semi-finals.
The final will be held on November 14 in Dubai.
Leave a Reply