Matthew Wade says Marcus Stoinis power-hitting against Rauf the game-changer

Matthew Wade: After assisting Australia to victory, Matthew Wade praised his batting partner Marcus Stoinis for the way he handled Haris Rauf in the 17th over, claiming it was the game’s turning point. The slog overs also saw Hasan Ali dismiss Wade in the 19th over off Shaheen Afridi, with the ‘keeper-batter smashing the next three balls for sixes to book their place in the final.

Wade said at the post-match press conference:

“I don’t think any of them [the drop and missed run-out chances] were the turning points of the match,”

“The way Marcus Stoinis batted at the end, to be honest, was probably the turning point of the match. I think when I came out there, he might have hit the spinner [Shadab Khan] for six, the first ball when I got out there. I think that kind of play, in my eyes, he’s really gutsy in those decisions that you make out in the middle, win you games. He could’ve easily blocked that ball he went for, hit a six, and then that total comes down a little bit more.

“But I think the turning point of the game I thought was Marcus’s over against Rauf. I thought that kind of swung the momentum our way and gave us an opportunity to win the game. It’s just an easy thing to do to focus on missed chances. Yes, maybe it would have gone down late in the last over, but I’m still confident we could have gone home,” he added.

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In the BBL, both Matthew Wade and Marcus Stoinis bat at the top of the order for their respective sides

Both players, however, have a strong working relationship, as proven by the fact that they have batted together for Victoria and Australia for the past 6-7 years. Batting with Stoinis also gives the man on the other end ‘confidence,’ according to Wade, because the all-rounder is known for playing big shots.

“In the optional sessions, the day before the game. You’ll find me and Steve Smith and Marcus Stoinis go down again. In closed sessions because we haven’t got a lot of match practice. It’s been invaluable to see what those guys are doing in training. Especially Stoinis, work out his strengths when he’s hitting the ball at his best. And he can see me do exactly the same thing.”

Wade used the lap shot against Afridi as well.

The wicketkeeper-batsman claimed he had that shot. In his arsenal for a long time and used it to manipulate the field

“I’ve got those [scoops and laps] for quite some time now. I’ve been playing them since the beginning of my profession. But, yes, that was something I wanted to tap into a little bit more when I was batting down the middle.

“It’s easy to have the fine leg up a lot of the time in the end, but someone that laps, it kind of opens up the whole field for you. You’ve got to either have mid-off up or the third man up or one of the fielders on the offside. It kind of opens the whole field up for you a little bit.”

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