Following two straight losses against West Indies, Australia skipper Aaron Finch has admitted that the partnership between Shimron Hetmyer and Dwayne Bravo made the difference in the 2nd game. He also insisted that the openers getting out put unreasonable pressure on the inexperienced middle-order.
Despite not having a host of stars, Australia were on the verge of winning the first encounter against West Indies before a familiar collapse saw them fall from the cliff. In the second encounter, however, there was not a chance for the visitors, who blew away their good start with the ball to concede 196 in the first innings.
For West Indies, it was the left-right batting combination of Shimron Hetmyer and Dwayne Bravo which made the difference, with them scoring 102 runs for the fourth wicket, which ultimately tilted the contest in their favour. In the post-match presentation, losing skipper Aaron Finch rued the loss and insisted that the partnership between Hetmyer-Bravo made the difference.
“110-run partnership between Hetmyer and Bravo, that’s the difference in the game. I thought the front half of our [bowling] innings was pretty good. It’s always tough bowling to a left-right combination with a big breeze going to one side of the ground,” Finch admitted.
The Australian skipper added that with the bat, the openers didn’t get off to the right start, which put a massive amount of pressure on the reasonably inexperienced middle-order, which succumbed under the pressure. Barring Mitchell Marsh, who scored yet another half-century, the middle-order had scores of 13, 19 and 7.
“I don’t think the wicket changed a huge amount again. It played pretty well. Chasing 190, you have to get off to a pretty good start and when your two openers get out cheaply, it puts a lot of pressure on a reasonably inexperienced – at least in terms of international T20 cricket – middle order.”
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