Sydney, Feb 2: Australia’s winning streak hurtled on as the hosts defeated India in the 1st T20I by 31 runs in Sydney. Matthew Wade was adjudged Man-of-the-Match for his well-made 72 off 43 balls while debutant skipper George Bailey made a winning start to his T20I career, contributing with a batting cameo.
The Aussie duo exuded confidence while talking about the win in the post-match press conference.
Excerpts:
George Bailey
On the victory over India
One of the beauties of T20s is that you can make decisions really late. So I’ve got a bit of a plan mainly for the first six [overs] and we see how that goes and after that it’s just a feel. I thought our spinners bowled really well tonight, they bowled the majority of their overs through the middle. We’ve obviously got some outstanding death bowlers in Brett [Lee]; Xavier [Doherty] bowled a couple of great overs at the death. And we’ve got James Faulkner up our sleeves, who is also a great death bowler. So we’ve got plenty of options which makes my job pretty easy.
On captaining Australia on debut
It was a great experience. The debut and captaincy thing didn’t really come into my mind because once you are out there playing, it doesn’t matter if it’s your first game or hundredth game. It was a huge honour and it was great to get a win with it.
On their batting depth
It would have been nice to get hold of a couple [of deliveries], but I thought it was pretty tough to do that at the end. Dave [David] Hussey, someone I have spent a lot of time batting with, is one of the cleanest strikers [of the ball] in the world and he was struggling as well. So it’s nice to know that we’ve got that depth behind us.
On it being a difficult wicket to chase on
It’s difficult batting second, that’s T20 I guess. It’s not through lack of skill, lack of talent in that Indian group; it’s an outstanding line-up. But that’s the nature of the game. We took some early wickets, the spinners bowled well and when the run-rate climbs up, you have to keep going.
On David Hussey’s importance to the side
I think in the shortest format of the game he is outstanding and you can add his fielding to that as well. It’s one of the great things about our T20 team and what sums it up beautifully is his consistency. That’s a really hard thing to get in T20. Huss is someone who is as consistent as it gets with the way he prepares; it’s a great thing to watch and it’s great to have him in your team.
On playing the T20I right after the Big Bash
In terms of our training, the way we’ve been preparing, thinking about the game, that’s just the way we’ve been going. But with someone like Davy [David] Warner it doesn’t matter; he is ready to go whatever the format.
Matthew Wade
On his current form
I definitely feel that my batting has come along in the last couple of seasons. I’m working pretty close with Greg Shipperd back home and things are starting to come along especially in one-day cricket. It’s taken me a little bit more time to get used to T20 cricket.
On what caused the change in form
I’ve got a lot more confidence in my game; I feel I can compete at the highest level. I think it’s just confidence in my cricket game.
On the Indian bowling attack
I thought all the spinners were really tough, to be honest. If they bowled full enough, I felt I could hit them down the ground with the short boundaries here. I think spin was probably the hardest bowling to face throughout the innings.
