Australia’s opener called time against Scotland before playing his part in the well-timed surge
ESPNcricinfo Staff
Finch on Australia’s six drops: They were uncharacteristically sloppy
Finch has been impressed by some of Scotland’s batsmen, but also points out where they fell down
This year, Travis Head has played powerplays. Against Scotland, who bowled superbly in the opening six overs in St. Lucia, it was a little different.
The head wasn’t exactly slow. After the fielding restrictions, he was 24 off 20 balls – a strike rate of 120 – having needed nine balls to find his first boundary. But before Saturday’s innings, his powerplay strike rate in 2024 was 173.78.
It wasn’t until he got to 45-50 that Head really made the switch, taking Safyaan Sharif for three sixes in four balls that were dispelled by just one side, which, however, ensured Australia would get over the line.
Head was happy to play his innings in a slightly different style, the pressure eased when Marcus Stoinis got to the middle and promptly found the boundaries.
“There will be times when it will be done in different ways,” Head told reporters. “So happy to be able to spend some time out there, get the job done, put us in a position and help us win and have that partnership with Stoin. It won’t always be as fluent and it won’t always be as fast A start can sometimes be slower and we have to do it in a different way, I feel I can do that and tonight I showed it.
Australia have huge confidence in their ability to shift gears during the innings with the strength of the middle order in Stoinis, Tim David and Matthew Wade. Glenn Maxwell is yet to find form, but if he fires, that adds another dimension.
A big surge appeared twice in the T20 World Cup: against Oman they amassed 84 in the last six overs, led by Stoinis, and then against Scotland he made a demanding 89 off 37 balls look relatively comfortable.
“You go through the gears and try to work out where you can do it,” Head said when asked about the timetable for the Scottish pursuit. “Of course it happened today with Stoin. He was playing beautifully and I was playing that role with him where I was staying out there as long as I could, knowing that hopefully my chance would come.
“But with that much power, anything is possible in the last seven, eight overs. We got to a stage where it was time to go, and we kept the dust dry and we were able to accelerate at the back.”
Australia will return to St Lucia to play India in their final Super Eight match. This will likely be followed by meetings with Bangladesh in Antigua and Afghanistan in St Vincent. Ashton Agar’s selection against Scotland was with an eye on having a role during the Super Eight in spin-friendly conditions, especially at Arnos Vale.