It was another ruthless performance from the Australian team, which has cruised into the finals at Eden Park with three dominating wins from three matches.
They have restricted their opponents to 9/117, 9/155 and 7/137 in their three matches, which is impressive given bowling quartet Andrew Tye, Kane Richardson, Billy Stanlake and Ashton Agar had a combined 13 games of Twenty20 cricket under their belts coming into this series.
Let’s give credit to Australian for turning the tables after the beating they took in the ODI.
In all probability fresh legs coming into the side, with new coach Ricky Ponting and new stand-in captain David Warner, was the boost Australia needed. Just as tides shifted in England’s favour for the ODIs, so too has Australia recovered some confidence in the T20 series.
Perhaps the only worry will be the form of David Warner. He has led well and his fielding has been top notch. His run-out of Dawid Malan, where he got to the ball, picked it up and released in a single motion, left many awestruck. They say catches win matches, but converting those half chances is as imperative as well.
(AAP Image/David Mariuz)
However, his form with the bat has been poor. Coming into the match he had a return of ten runs in two matches and managed just two yesterday. Prior to the series he made 73 runs in five outings in the ODI series. In 2017 he managed to score runs at an average of 33 in ODIs, with just one century on offer after his brilliant 2016 in which he scored seven ODI tons.
His short-format form hasn’t been pleasing considering the pace of the format suits his style. A closer look at his figures in T20 reveals that in 67 innings prior to yesterday’s match Warner was averaging just 26.25 without any three-figure scores and with only 12 half-centuries.
Take his last ten digs, featuring a 28, a 25 and a 17 and with the other seven all in single figures. It amounts to just 111 runs at an average of 11.1, a worrying statistic with the South African tour coming up.
But have a look at his career overall. Warner has had patches of low scores, and what inevitably follows has been a string of big scores. Before the 2015 World Cup he had just three centuries in the ODI format, but in 2018 he is the owner of 14 ODI centuries.
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It’s worth recalling that in 2013, after Warner and Joe Root’s altercation in Birmingham, many feared that it could be the end of Warner’s career. But he came back to score big runs in 2013-14 Ashes and 543 runs in South Africa in 2014, winning both series and taking Australia to the number one Test ranking in the process. After his ODI place came into question in 2015, he roared back to any doubters with seven centuries all over the world.
He is clearly the foundation on which Australian success will be based. Expect him to be back with a bang, if not in the T20 series then in South Africa.
South Africa has been his favourite place to tour and its team his favourite opponents to bludgeon. It’s not over yet. He’s just 31 and has three or four years of good cricket left in him – perhaps more given how fit he keeps himself.
So just take a seat and expect another Warner special sooner rather than later.
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