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‘Knew semi-final vs Pakistan might be my last for Australia’: Matthew Wade after match-winning hat-trick of sixes
Wade, who hit two ramp shots that went for six in the 19th over, admitted that he was nervous going into the semi-final as he thought the match against Pakistan could be his last for Australia.
Australia wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade revealed that he thought the T20 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan in Dubai could ‘potentially be his last while representing Australia.' As it turned out, it was Wade who hit a hat-trick of sixes off Pakistan's best seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi in the 19th over to seal a dramatic five-wicket win for Australia that took them to their second final appearance in the T20 World Cup.
Wade, who hit two ramp shots that went for six in the 19th over, admitted that he was nervous going into the match.
"I was a little bit nervous coming into the game and knowing that potentially this could be the last opportunity I get to represent Australia," Wade, who scored 41 off 17 balls to help Australia chase down 177 on Friday, told reporters after his match-winning knock.
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"I just wanted to do well and really wanted us to win this game to give us an opportunity to win the whole thing. We've got a great bunch of guys in that dressing room and guys that I've played for a long, long period of time with," the left-hander added.
Wade was dropped on the third ball of the 19th over by Hasan Ali in the deep mid-wicket boundary, which turned out to a major event. With Australia needing 18 off 9 balls, the left-hander then ramped Afridi over fine-leg, flicked the slower one over deep square leg in the next ball and then ended with another ramp shot.
"I'm just happy that I got the opportunity to reinvent myself, to go away and come back with more confidence and really feel like I belong at international level now," said Wade.
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"I reinvented myself into a batsman and then all of a sudden now I'm playing as a keeper-batsman again and batting down at seven.
“The older I am the more eyes-wide-open I am about the opportunity I got. It didn't worry me to go down the order, it hasn't worried me at all whether I captained or not,” Wade added.
Wade and Marcus Stoinis put together an unbroken 81-run stand for the sixth wicket off just 40 balls when Australia were reduced to 96 for 5 in 12.2 overs.
Wade, who has made multiple comebacks in the Australian set-up, said he treats every game as his last.
"I don't know when my last game is going to be, I treated every game like it potentially could be.
"I'm sure when it's all over, when I get the tap on the shoulder I'll look back on the last three or four years and be really proud of the way that I came back. It's not the first time that I've come back – I've been dropped four or five times. It might be the most ever in Australian cricket," he added.
Australia will face first-time finalists New Zealand on Sunday in Dubai, searching for their maiden T20 World Cup title.
