T20 World Cup 2021 | Australia can be the best team in the world, says Justin Langer
After qualifying for the semi-final of T20 World Cup 2021, Australia head coach Justin Langer has said that the Kangaroos have the capability of beating the best team in the world. Australia, who defeated West Indies on Saturday, will possibly play face Group 2 toppers Pakistan in the semi-final.
Skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and asked West Indies to bat first on Saturday. West Indies had a mixed start as they lost three wickets but scored 50 runs in the powerplay. Chris Gayle, most probably playing his last World Cup match, scored 15 runs before being clean bowled by Pat Cummins. Captain Kieron Pollard (44) top-scored for the team as West Indies were restricted to 157/7. Josh Hazlewood took four wickets while Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Adam Zampa took one wicket each.
In reply, David Warner (89*) and Mitchell Marsh (53) helped Australia chase down the target with 8 wickets and 22 balls remaining to keep their Net Run Rate (NRR) ahead of South Africa, who were scheduled to face England later in the evening.
The Temba Bavuma-led set England a massive 190-run target and won the match by 10 runs, but still crashed out of the tournament due to an inferior NRR. South Africa had to restrict England to 131 or less to qualify for the semi-finals.
Ahead of the Australia's clash in the final four stage, Langer said that his team has gained a lot of experience through the course of the tournament and got a fair idea about playing T20 cricket going forward.
"Not that long ago we were the best team in the world and some of that cricket shows we can be the best team in the world," Langer told reporters.
"I think England are leading the way at the moment and we've got exciting prospects.
"We're taking great lesssons from this tournament on how we can continue to play T20 cricket now, for this tournament, and moving forward."
The former opening batsman added that his team has done well since getting hammered by their arch-rivals England. The Eoin Morgan-led side had chased down the target of 126 runs in just 11.4 overs thanks to Jos Buttler's 71 not out off 32 balls.
"It was brilliant again last night, I think our last few games have been outstanding cricket," said the former opening batsman.
"The boys have really stepped up. It was quite a sobering experience against England. We knew we had to do some work and the way the boys responded to that has been brilliant, so it's nice to be in the semi-final.
"You can't win it unless you're in the semi-final. It's nice to be sitting here, knowing we're in a semi-final on Thursday."
The 50-year-old further said that his team is looking forward to play against unbeaten Pakistan, the first semifinalists of T20 World Cup 2021 who are are expected to win their final Super 12 match against Scotland on Sunday.
"They've got a good all-round team, like we have, and they're well-led," he said.
"Their captain, Babar Azam, is a superstar of the game. They've some good pace bowlers and they've a couple of good spinners, so they're a well-balanced side like we are, so it should be a great game of cricket."
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