T20 World Cup

Australia began with a wonderful opening in their ICC World Twenty20 campaign and smashed Pakistan by 34 runs at the Beausejour stadium on Sunday.

Man of The Match : Shane Watson

Australia began on a slower pace as with four of the first five deliveries dot balls and an exceptional four from David Warner.

Shane Watson began with an awesome performance for his 49-ball 81, this is followed by  David Hussey – 53 from 29 deliveries  left the Pakistani bowling to drive the score to a intimidating 191 after skipper Michael Clarke won the toss.

Shaun Tait, Dirk Nannes and Mitchell Johnson – with the smashing hit, the trio made a sizzling shot for the men in the middle

Despite the loss of Warner and Clarke, the game was on the flow as with Watson hits with consecutive sixes in ninth over to stabilize the half century.

With this win, Australia is heading towards their final group match against Bangladesh.  Since, its gives them a full confidence for them to place a victory in Super Eights.

“It was nice to hit some out of the middle. It did not go well in the practice matches but we had some all round contributions that helped us win the game. We were thinking 175 when we started but David Hussey’s big hitting made us confident of reaching 190. David Hussey’s big hitting was fun all the way. I am enjoying the role as opener and I am thinking about continuing with the role for some more time to come.” Says Shane Watson

“We got the victory and we batted really well to set up this victory. The bowlers bowled well and the fielding was sharp. It was a brilliant performance by Watson and David Hussey. The fast bowlers, part timers and the spinners will play a big part in the tournament. This is a big ground and it will be a big challenge as to how we adjust when we play in Barbados.” Says Michael Clarke
“Australia played really well, especially David Hussey, Watson and Warner and 191 is a very hard total. They played very well against the spinners and I tried some experiment with the bowling which had worked earlier but it did not work today. We lost some wickets early on and that is why the run-rate was going up all the time. The bowling and the catching has to improve if we have to go ahead in the tournament.” Says Shahid Afridi