T20 WC 2021: Australian Men complete their trophy cabinet with T20 silverware

International cricket has witnessed Australian dominance before. From 1995 to 2007, they were a side full of match-winners and cricketing legends. Their reign saw the yellow outfit winning three ODI World Cups and two Champion Trophies. They were the undisputed Test champions. But the silverware that was birthed in 2007 eluded them. Semi-finalists of the 2007 and 2012 T20 World Cups and the runner-ups in 2010 were still waiting for that one trophy. On 14th November 2021, Aaron Finch and his men completed the quest in Dubai.

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Australia did not arrive in the UAE as favourites. Truth be told, they had lost their last five bilateral T20I series and they had lost around the globe. They lost 1-2 in England, 2-3 in New Zealand, 1-4 in West Indies, 1-4 in Bangladesh and conceded a 1-2 defeat to India in Australia. A team could not have had a more morale-drowning run. In the warm-up games, they secured a 3-wicket win over the Kiwis but lost to India with a whopping margin of eight wickets.

The Group 1 of Super 12 was christened as the group of death. It has England – the tournament favourites, West Indies – a side renowned for their fearless T20 cricket, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – who gathered momentum and know-how of the UAE pitches in the qualifying rounds, with Australia and South Africa completing the pack. But the predictions went awry.

Australian bowlers stole the show against South Africa in the opening game of the Super 12 round. Adam Zampa and David Warner rose to the occasion as they cruised to a seven-wicket over the Lankans. England handed them a reality check as the Aussies collapsed to 125 all out. Rising from the ashes, Finch and co. registered successive eight-wicket wins to confirm their berth in the knockouts.

In the semi-final, Pakistan were strong favourites following their unbeaten run in their own group. And with Australia languishing at 96/5 in 12.2 overs, the Green team were all but the finalists. Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade completed a heroic chase to set up a date with their trans-Tasman rivals in the final. The David Warner-Mitchell Marsh show saw the Aussies men’s team claiming their maiden T20 title.

Heroes for Australia

Winning a multi-nation tournament needs plenty of heroes and Australia found them. David Warner proved his quality with 289 runs in seven matches. After being dropped by his IPL team just a month ago, the southpaw responded in the best manner possible as he claimed the Player of the Tournament award. Matthew Wade, Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Marsh raised their game in the knockouts with the bat. The fact that Australia won without sizable contributions from Glenn Maxwell and Steve Smith show how well the others responded.

289 runs. 89* high score. 32 fours. 10 sixes

Congratulations on a fantastic tournament, David Warner 🏅#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/m5XfzCRAA6

— ICC (@ICC) November 15, 2021

Adam Zampa shone brightly with 13 wickets in the tournament which also included a five-wicket haul. Josh Hazlewood impressed with his hard lengths and showed his immaculate understanding of the UAE conditions. Mitchell Starc roared in at a fiery pace and his bowling in the middle overs proved influential. Pat Cummins and Glenn Maxwell allowed Finch to stay in control of the game with their tight bowling line and length.

But the biggest contribution to Australia’s triumph was made by their captain, Aaron Finch. How you ask. Simply by winning the toss. Finch won six out of seven tosses and Australia went on to win each of those games. The only loss that Australia suffered was when Finch called the wrong side of the coin. The captain was gracious enough to acknowledge the slice of luck.

“It (toss) did play a big factor, to be honest. I tried to play it down as much as I could because I thought, ‘at some point in the tournament, I’m going to lose a toss and we’ll have to bat first’. But it did play a big part. You saw out there at the end there the dew factor: the slower balls weren’t holding in the wicket as much. I don’t know how I did it – maybe it was just fate,” said Finch.

The fact remains that Australia are the worthy champions of this T20 World Cup and they have played exciting cricket to bring it home. They will be entering the next year’s T20 World Cup as hosts and as the defending champions. If they continue to put their best foot forward, their trophy cabinet is set to be densely populated.