Wade heaps praise on Stoinis over 'really gutsy' move

When Matthew Wade walked to the wicket in Dubai early on Friday morning Australian time, the Aussies were stumbling at 5-96 and looked almost certain to be bundled out of the tournament at the penultimate hurdle.

But the wicketkeeper-batter says it was the very next ball, and not his three consecutive sixes to ice the game, that swung the momentum back in the Aussie's favour and on a path to victory.

Having just watched Glenn Maxwell hole out at deep point, the Tasmanian joined allrounder Marcus Stoinis in the middle of Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

With the pressure amped up in a cut-throat semi-final of a global tournament, Wade said the 32-year-old could have easily been forgiven for taking a cautious approach.

Instead, Stoinis, who at that stage was only four off seven balls, launched Pakistan leg-spinner Shadab Khan, who already had four wickets to his name, over midwicket for six.

"(To) hit the spinner for six first ball when I got out there, I think that kind of play, in my eyes, is really gutsy and those decisions that you make out in the middle, win you games," Wade said after his player-of-the-match innings of 41 not out from just 17 balls.

"He could have easily blocked that ball, he went for it, hit a six and then that total comes down a little bit more."

The left-hander, who took 22 runs off Shaheen Afridi in the 19th over to get Australia home with six balls to spare, said Stoinis' over against former Melbourne Stars' teammate Haris Rauf was also a turning point of the game.

The middle-order batter hit Rauf for a huge six over deep midwicket before following up next ball with a powerful straight drive down the ground for four to take 13 runs off the 17th over and reduce the deficit to 37 from 18 balls.

"That kind of swung the momentum our way and gave us a little bit of an opportunity to win the game," Wade said.

"Marcus' innings was underestimated, to be honest. It was terrific innings. It took a lot of pressure off me early and gave me the ability to get in and get them late.

"There's no doubt I was feeling the pressure a little bit. And Stoinis was saying, 'we'll get these, we'll get these'.

"In the back of my mind I was thinking, 'I hope you do because I don't think I'll strike one here at the moment'. But while he's around I'm confident we can chase any total."

Stoinis finished 40 not out off 31 balls as he and Wade, for the second time in the tournament, got Australia home in a tense chase to lead the side to their second-ever final and keep Australia's dream of a maiden T20 World Cup crown alive.

2021 Men's T20 World Cup

Australia's squad

Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserves: Dan Christian, Nathan Ellis, Daniel Sams

Oct 23: Australia beat South Africa by five wickets

Oct 28: Australia beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets

Oct 30: England beat Australia by eight wickets

Nov 4: Australia beat Bangladesh by eight wickets

Nov 6: Australia beat West Indies by eight wickets

Semi-finals

Nov 10: New Zealand beat England by five wickets

Nov 11: Australia beat Pakistan by five wickets

Final

Nov 14: New Zealand v Australia, Dubai (6pm local, 1am Nov 15 AEDT)

All matches live and exclusive on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo Sports.

Click here for the full 2021 ICC T20 World Cup schedule

Click here for the full squads for all 16 teams

Super 12 stage

Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Scotland, Namibia