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T20 World Cup 2021: We needed a bit of luck in the end: Aaron Finch after Australia beat South Africa

T20 World Cup: Following Australia's five-wicket win over South Africa in their ICC T20 World Cup opener, skipper Aaron Finch said his team needed a bit of luck.

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Bengaluru, Oct. 23: Following Australia's five-wicket win over South Africa in their ICC T20 World Cup opener, skipper Aaron Finch said his team needed a bit of luck to register a win in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

T20 World Cup 2021: Australia tear form book to beat South AfricaT20 World Cup 2021: Australia tear form book to beat South Africa

After the bowlers churned out a fine performance to restrict South Africa to a paltry 118 for nine, the batsmen did just enough to take them over the ropes. With Finch-led side struggling at 81 for five in the 16th over, Marcus Stoinis took the side home with an unbeaten 24.

Speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, Finch said, "The dugout was probably a bit more relaxed than I was. Anytime it comes down to the wire but Stoinis and (Matthew) Wade kept their cool there. It's what experience can do."

The skipper also had a few good words for Glenn Maxwell, who contributed with the ball before getting out for 28. "We felt there were good match-ups for him in the powerplay, and then (David) Miller came in and they couldn't go hard, they were in a bit of a holding pattern (so it worked out)."

Finch also had words of praise for Man-of-the-Match Josh Hazlewood, who returned excellent figures of 2/19 in four overs. "Ideally I would have been able to push him for a third in the powerplay, he's a world class bowler in any form of the game.

"People say that's easy in this format but when you get it right on a pitch with variation, it can get tough," Finch said after their win.

Finch also said that periodic breaks from the game would be great for the players in his team. "There's never been any issue for us - we know people need to rest and I think for the longevity of Australian cricket it's a great thing. It's nice to get the experienced guys back because it counts in a World Cup."

South Africa fielded superbly and the highlight was the sensational diving catch by Aiden Markram, making the task difficult for Australia. "South Africa is as good a fielding team as you get, in a big ground you think you can exploit (but they gave nothing away). In the end we needed a bit of luck to go our way and we got it," Finch said.

Meanwhile, after losing their first game, South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma took the positives from the game as his side gave the Australian batsmen a tough time despite a low total on the board.

"We want to talk about us being resilient. Big effort from the guys to get us to the last over. We just didn't get enough with the bat and it was always going to be tough for the bowlers, and it was a good effort from them to get it to this stage," Bavuma said after the match.

After removing the dangerous Glenn Maxwell, South Africa a had a real chance to take the game away, but Stoinis hit two boundaries in the final over to seal the match in Australia's favour. Bavuma said Australia adapted to the conditions better.

"I think Australia bowled well, probably barring the fast bowler. They adjusted to conditions, hitting that back of the length. Their spinners too, they didn't give us anything.

"Credit to Aiden (Markram, who top-scored with 40 for SA), but as a batting team, definitely not to plan. As much as it isn't a day that didn't go to plan, there are positives to take from it. We spoke about it at half time that we weren't going to leave anything out there."

Meanwhile man-of-the-match Hazlewood, who bowled beautifully alongside Adam Zampa (2/21) and Maxwell (1/24), said hitting the right length was the key.

"I think length was the key, hitting the right length, just on top of the stumps. Anything slightly short or fuller seemed easy, so length was key. The wicket seamed reasonably good, but it was a little bit stoppy, a little bit slow," Hazlewood said.

"It plays that way during the day and gets easier at night. We've got a number of all-rounder there and Maxi was the man today to bowl the four. It sort of got close in the end but we've got finishers and we were confident in them," Hazlewood signed off.

(Inputs from PTI)

Story first published: Saturday, October 23, 2021, 20:56 [IST]
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