Australia vs Pakistan Semifinal, T20 World Cup 2021: Man of The Match, Post Match Presentation, Highlights

Bengaluru, Nov. 12: Sunday's T20 World Cup Final will see a new champion after Australia notched up a thrilling five-wicket win over Pakistan in the second semifinal at the Dubai International Stadium.

T20 World Cup: Wade completes another epic chase to set up Australia-New Zealand final

Australia, who have entered their second-ever T20 World Cup final will take on New Zealand in the title clash, with both sides gunning for their maiden T20 World Cup trophy.

Pakistan, who had been enjoying a dream run, fell to a heartbreaking loss in the second semifinal on Thursday. The Babar Azam-led side was the only team to remain unbeaten in this edition of the T20 WC.

After being sent into bat, openers Mohammad Rizwan and skipper Babar Azam (39) set up an opening stand of 71 to set Pakistan up for a strong total. Rizwan (67 off 52) along with Zaman (55 off 32) then shared a partnership of 72 runs to guide Pakistan to a challenging total of 176 for four.

In reply, Australia got the chase off to a shaky start as skipper Aaron Finch fell to a golden duck. David Warner (49 off 30) and Mitchell Marsh (28 off 22) steadied the ship. But Shadab Khan paved the way back for Pakistan with a four wicket haul, reducing Australia to 96/5.

Needing 81 off 46, Mathew Wade and Marcus Stoinis stitched together a match-winning partnership to chase down the target with an over to spare. While Marcus Stoinis played a solid 40 off 31, man-of-the-match Wade hammered a sizzling 41 off 17 to guide Australia to a thrilling victory and set up a clash against New Zealand.

Post-Match Presentation Ceremony Highlights:

Player of the Match: Matthew Wade (unbeaten 41 off 17)

Winning Captain: Aaron Finch: It was a great game of cricket. The way Matthew Wade held his nerve was outstanding, that partnership with Marcus Stoinis was crucial. I just got my feet in a tangle first up. It happens, in T20 cricket you get some good ones every now and then. I thought we were pretty sloppy today, we dropped a couple, though they were tough ones. But what we showed today was that you need all your players, everyone in your 15 to contribute. (On chasing teams winning so many) It's really strange. There's no dew, but the lights take effect and the wicket speeds up a bit. I was hoping to lose the toss and put a total on the board and defend it, but it was good to chase that target down in the end.

Losing Captain: Babar Azam: The way we started in the first half, we got the total we targeted. But we gave them too much of a chance at the end of the chase. If we had taken that catch, it might have made the difference. We made mistakes somewhere and that's why we lost. But the way we played this tournament, the way we gelled, I'm very satisfied as a captain. I hope we try and learn from our mistakes after this. Definitely, if we've played so well in a tournament, we'll gain confidence, and we'll continue to try and play this way. The roles we'd defined for the players, they all executed very well. The way the crowds supported us, we enjoyed it a lot as a team, as we always do, and I'm very grateful for it.

Matthew Wade: Ya absolutely! Talking to Stoinis at the other end and figuring out what the bowlers were looking to do. Marcus was little confident, but I was a little unsure. (Shaheen Shah Afridi) probably bowled more pace-on than I expected. When I got out there with Marcus, he was really confident we'd get them, even though I was a little unsure. He found the boundaries early on, and I was happy to chip in at the end. It got down to two a ball, and from there it was if you got one in your arc, just try to hit it. Probably hasn't sunk in, I've just finished batting. I'm just happy to contribute. I was out of the team for a while, just happy I got an opportunity again.