Aaron Finch hailed Player of the Tournament David Warner for his important knocks throughout Australia’s triumphant 2021 T20 World Cup campaign.
Australia clinched their maiden T20 World Cup title on Sunday after an eight-wicket win over trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in the final in Dubai. Opting to bowl first after winning the toss, Australia got off to a good start as New Zealand struggled to pace up their innings. However, Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson hit a fine knock of 85 to help take his side to a commendable total of 172/4. In response, Australia lost skipper Aaron Finch early but David Warner and Mitchell Marsh stitched together a fine 92-run partnership for the second wicket to wrest the game away from the Kiwis.
Australia went to win by eight wickets, with Marsh and Glenn Maxwell getting the job done in the 19th over of the match.
Speaking after the victory, Finch hailed Player of the Tournament Warner for his important knocks throughout the tournament.
Finch said that criticism of Warner before the tournament, owing to the latter’s poor form, was “almost like poking the bear”.
“Can’t believe people wrote him off a couple of weeks ago, it was almost like poking the bear,” Finch said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Talking about the title win, Finch said, “This is huge, to be the first Australia team to do it. So proud of how the guys went about the campaign.”
Asked whether the win over Bangladesh in the Super 12 stage was the turning point after Australia’s comprehensive eight-wicket loss to England, Finch replied, “Certainly was, (our) backs were against the wall. We had to fight and certainly did that, had some great team and individual performances.”
Speaking about his other teammates, Finch said, “(Adam Zampa) is the player of the tournament for me. (He) controlled the game, got big wickets, super player. Mitch Marsh, what a way to start, put pressure on from the start. Matt Wade came in under an injury cloud and got the job done. He came in in the semi-final (against Pakistan) alongside Marcus Stoinis and did the business.”