“The way Marcus Stoinis batted was probably the turning point”: Matthew Wade credits Marcus Stoinis’ knock as game-changer in Pakistan vs Australia game

Matthew Wade credits Marcus Stoinis’ knock instead of Hasan Ali’s dropped catch as the turning point in the game.

Australia defeated Pakistan by five wickets to reach their second T20 World Cup final. Matthew Wade played a heroic knock at the end to lead his side to the finals.

However, at one stage, Pakistan were in the dominating position. Australia required 50 runs off the last four overs, whereas Stoinis and Wade were comparatively new at the crease. In the penultimate 19th over, Hasan Ali dropped Matthew Wade on Afridi’s ball. Wade, then hit three sixes on the trot and lead the Aussies to the finals of the tournament.

At the post-match press conference, Babar highlighted that the dropped catch of Hasan Ali was the turning point. Babar said, “The turning point was that dropped catch. Had we taken it, the scenario could have been different.”

Hasan Ali will never forget this evening, that catch #PAKVSAUS

— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) November 11, 2021

Matthew Wade credits Marcus Stoinis as the game-changer

Matthew Wade, although, didn’t buy the fact that the dropped catch was the turning point of the match. He gave credit to Marcus Stoinis’ knock as the real game-changer.

“I don’t think any of them [the drop and missed run-out chances] were the turning points of the match,” Wade said.

“The way Marcus Stoinis batted at the end, to be honest, was probably the turning point of the match.”

“I think the turning point of the game I thought was Marcus’s over against Rauf, thought that kind of swung the momentum our way and gave us an opportunity to win the game.”

The Finishers #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/Ll91Ur5pQY

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 11, 2021

Wade is generally a top-order player, whereas he always opens for his BBL side Hobart Hurricanes. Interestingly, Stoinis also opens for his BBL side, despite being a middle-order player. Matthew Wade credits “confidence” as the main factor for finishing the innings at the International level.

“It’s confidence, I think. Confidence in your ability to be able to finish the game,” Wade said.

“To be able to bat with Marcus has been awesome. Obviously [I’ve] played a lot of cricket with him at Victoria and early on in his career.”

“The reason that me and him [Stoinis] are working well towards the back end is we know each other’s game so much.”

Australia will now face New Zealand in a Trans-Tasman final on 14 November 2021 at the Dubai International Stadium.