Picture Credit: Instagram/@ICC
Australia snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat on Thursday night to set up the final clash against New Zealand. While the Aussies crossed the finishing line with an over to go against Pakistan in Dubai, it was actually a hard-fought victory as Australia, at one point in time, were finding it hard to fight neck and neck with the Men in Green. Eventually, the difference of Matthew Wade made it a night to remember for Australia as they sailed into the final of the mega event with a 5-wicket win.
Australia got reduced to 96/5 in 12.2 overs after losing Glenn Maxwell. This is when Wade arrived at the middle with an uphill task ahead of him as the required run rate was around 10.5. However, Wade held his nerves to play a sensational unbeaten knock of 41 runs that came in mere 17 balls. His innings was laced with 2 fours and 4 sixes, three of which came in the penultimate over that too as a hat-trick against Shaheen Afridi.
While the entire world was buzzing after witnessing the pyrotechnics of Wade, the commentary panel at the Dubai International Stadium too failed to keep its calm in the final minutes of the game. A day after the nail-biting finish, ICC has shared a couple of videos from within the commentary box. The video features Mark Nicholas- who couldn't hold his emotions when Hasan Ali dropped Wade at deep mid-wicket on the third ball of the penultimate over- alongside a highly energetic Ian Bishop leading the commentary panel at the time and Shane Watson sitting next to him.
Here are the videos:
Talking about the game, Pakistan had posted a competitive total of 176/4 in their stipulated quota of 20 overs after getting an invitation to bat first. Mohammad Rizwan's 67 and Fakhar Zaman's quickfire 55 not out had played a huge role in propelling the Men in Green to the score. In return, apart from Wade's match-winning knock, David Warner scored 49 of 30 balls, while Marcus Stoinis also helped the team's cause with an unbeaten 40 off 31.