Pakistan captain Babar Azam says a regulation dropped catch in the 19th over was the turning point in Australia’s stunning semi-final win at the T20 World Cup.
With 20 runs needed from the final 10 balls, the match hung in the balance with Matthew Wade on strike to Shaheen Afridi.
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The left-hander clipped a ball in the air to deep mid-wicket, where Hasan Ali had to move to his left to take what should have been a comfortable catch.
It would have turned the match decisively in Pakistan’s favour, but instead Hasan overran the ball, and barely looked like taking the catch.
It capped a difficult five minutes for Hasan, who had bowled the previous over and conceded 15 runs as Australia clawed its way back into the match.
At the 1999 World Cup, Steve Waugh allegedly told South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs that he’d “just dropped the World Cup” after Gibbs made a mess of a simple chance, and Wade might have been tempted to do likewise had Hasan been within hearing distance.
Given an unexpected life, the left-hander finished the match with sixes off the next three balls.
Wade (41 off 17 balls) and Marcus Stoinis (40 off 31) combined for an unbeaten partnership of 81 off 40 balls to see Australia home.
“When you give teams like Australia a chance they take the match away from you,” Babar said after the game.
“If that catch that Hasan Ali dropped had been taken, maybe the result would have been different. As a player, you have to be on your toes and avail any opportunity you get. We made a mistake and it cost us the match.”
It was Pakistan’s only loss of the tournament, after winning all five of their group matches.
“The way we played the tournament and gelled together as a team, I am very satisfied with my team’s efforts as captain,” Babar said.
“We’ll try and learn from our mistakes and come back stronger. When you play a big tournament so well, it’s good but you have to perform on the day. You can’t relax in any department.”
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