AUS vs SA: Shane Watson underlines 3 things Australia should do to qualify for semi-finals

Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has highlighted three things Aaron Finch and his side needs to do in the ICC T20 World Cup to reach the semi-finals. According to Watson, Australia's openers David Warner and Aaron Finch, middle-order batter Glenn Maxwell, and death bowlers, including Mitchell Starc, are the key for the Kangaroos to do well in the marquee ICC event. Watson said the Aussie openers will have to stand up and dominate the powerplay for Maxwell to come and take advantage of it. Watson added that Australia's death bowlers must also nail their act in the final five overs, which will help them stop their opponents from posting big totals.  

"I am gonna give three things that Australia need to do for us to be able to book ourselves a berth in semi-finals of the T20 World Cup. No. 1 is our openers - David Warner Aaron Finch, they are our match-winners, our world-class match winners. If these two guys stand up and dominate from the start in the first six overs, they are gonna set an incredible platform for everyone else to be out of leverage of," Watson said in a video he shared on Koo. 

"No. 2 is Glenn Maxwell - He's in incredible form at the moment. What he did for RCB, I just want him to continue on with that freedom that he's shown, take on the game; to have someone who can hit boundaries as he does in the middle-overs against the world-class spin bowlers. He's the man, he's the fire. No. 3 is our death bowling - Mitch Starc certainly knows how to bowl great yorkers but our other bowlers, we need to make sure that our other bowlers, we need to make sure that we nail those final five overs because there are some incredible power-hitters that Aussies are gonna be up against in those last five overs," Watson added.   

Australia in T20 World Cup

Australia is all set to start its ICC T20 World Cup campaign against South Africa at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. The match is scheduled to begin at 3:30 pm IST. Australia have never won a T20 World Cup and the Aaron Finch-led side will be eager to change the fortune this time around. However, Australia have some serious concerns in its World Cup squad as several players are coming into the tournament without much game time in their kitty.  

Australia's T20 World Cup Squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (vice-captain), Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade (wk), David Warner, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserves: Dan Christian, Nathan Ellis, Daniel Sams. 

Image: T20WorldCup/ICC/ShaneWatson/Twitter