Having pushed net run rate out of their mind in their pre-game planning, Australia's tactics changed during the innings break against Bangladesh
Mid-game chat sparked Australia's clinical chase
Adam Zampa finally has a five-wicket haul in international cricket after 118 games, but the leg-spinner stressed bigger challenges await him as Australia arrive at the business end of the T20 World Cup.
Player-of-the-match Zampa was tremendous in seeing the Aussies thump Bangladesh by eight wickets with 82 balls to spare in Dubai on Thursday, seeing them surge into second spot in Group 1 behind tournament heavyweights England.
The leg-spinner revealed Australia backtracked somewhat from a pre-match resolution to not overcomplicate their thinking by worrying about net run-rate scenarios, instead electing to go full steam ahead after rolling Bangladesh for just 73.
Needing to score the runs in 65 balls to move ahead of South Africa on net run rate, Australia reached their target in just 38 deliveries to move 0.289 clear of the Proteas, giving them some wiggle room on the final day of Group 1 games on Saturday, which will decide which teams progress to the semi-finals.
"There was a little bit of a conversation we had about not worrying about net run-rate – just trying to win these two games was what we spoke about," Zampa said after the Aussies leapfrogged South Africa on the standings.
"But once we bowled them out for 73, we did have a conversation in the changerooms before the batting innings about getting the runs before the eighth over.
"Once we got in the situation where we felt like it was doable, then the conversation was had."
While pleased with his match-winning haul of 5-19, the leg-spinner is more concerned with finding a way to stop a West Indies team that got the better of him at times earlier this year.
If Australia do not beat the Windies on Saturday (9pm AEDT) in Abu Dhabi in their final group match, they will be reliant on England defeating South Africa by a margin that keeps the Proteas' net run-rate below that of the Aussies.
Zampa took combined figures of 0-93 from 10 overs in the first three T20s of the Australia-Windies T20 campaign in July in St Lucia, with veteran Chris Gayle taking a particular a liking to him, at one stage hitting him for three consecutive sixes.
To his credit, Zampa showed considerable resolve by returning four-over hauls of 2-20 and 2-30 in the final two games, though by that stage the Windies had already won the series.
Zampa suggested pace trio Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood would be crucial for the rematch.
"We tried to use (lessons from another recent series against) Bangladesh, a couple of gold nuggets that could have worked against them. It will be the same against West Indies," he said.
"They're such a dangerous side, especially for me as a spin bowler, they've got guys who can hit it out of the park.
"I'm going to have to be on my game.
"It's a pretty important game for us as everyone knows. We've got the big quicks, we feel like that's going to be an ace against those guys."
Before Thursday, Zampa had taken two T20 five-wicket hauls at domestic level but never for Australia in either white-ball format, despite becoming the men's team's leading spin bowler in limited-overs cricket in recent times.
He had never even taken a four-for in T20Is, with his previous best return being 3-14 against Sri Lanka in 2019.
"It wasn't the best I've bowled, but in terms of the situation of our World Cup and how important a big win was, it felt really good to contribute," he said.
"It's a satisfying win and it was a really important one for us."
2021 Men's T20 World Cup
Australia's squad
Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserves: Dan Christian, Nathan Ellis, Daniel Sams
Oct 23: Australia beat South Africa by five wickets
Oct 28: Australia beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets
Oct 30: England beat Australia by eight wickets
Nov 4: Australia beat Bangladesh by eight wickets
Nov 6 v West Indies in Abu Dhabi (2pm local time, 9pm AEDT)
All matches live and exclusive on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo Sports.
Click here for the full 2021 ICC T20 World Cup schedule
Click here for the full squads for all 16 teams
Super 12 stage
Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Scotland, Namibia