First semi-final appearance at a T20 World Cup in almost a decade comes after opting for pace-heavy approach, a strategy at odds with most of their competition
How Aussies bucked Cup trend to break finals drought
Having bucked the trend by prioritising pace over spin on World Cup pitches that had been expected to favour the latter, Australia see no reason to change tack ahead of their biggest T20 game in almost a decade.
The Aussies' need for speed at this T20 World Cup has been justified, with Friday morning's (1am AEDT) clash with red-hot Pakistan marking their first semi-final appearance since the 2012 edition of the tournament.
Their team selection for their opening match against South Africa raised eyebrows as they opted for three genuine quicks in Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins and omitted spinner Ashton Agar, one of the T20I side's most reliable performers in recent years.
Leading into the tournament, Agar had played in all 24 of Australia's most recent T20Is that he had been available for and has been the side's most economical bowler (going at just 6.55) since the 2016 World T20.
That bold call meant Australia were the only side in the Super 12s (excluding Scotland and Namibia) to approach the tournament with a solitary front-line spinner (leg-spinner Adam Zampa).
Glenn Maxwell, whose off-spin has been used for just eight overs in five games, said the quality of Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood (who had never played in a T20I together before this tournament) played a major a part in the change.
"We've really backed the fact we've got three high-quality quicks who can bowl at any stage during the innings," Maxwell said today.
"A lot of other teams probably use a bit more spin in the Powerplay and through the middle, whereas we back our quicks.
"That's the way we've been going about our strategy with the ball."
With the exception of the match against England when they recalled Agar in a side featuring five specialist bowlers and got thumped by eight wickets, Australia have stuck fat with the pace-heavy approach.
It is a significant alteration for a T20I outfit that had fielded two specialist spinners in their last 24 games prior to this World Cup, dating back to November 2019.
Two thirds of Australia's overs at the World Cup have been bowled by pace, the highest of the four sides now in contention for the title, though New Zealand are not far behind.
Bowling breakdown of top six T20 World Cup teams
Australia
Pace: 57 overs (66%)
Spin: 29.4 overs (33%)
Pakistan
Pace: 59 overs (59%)
Spin: 41 overs (41%)
England
Pace: 50 overs (54%)
Spin: 43.2 overs (46%)
New Zealand
Pace: 63.4 overs (65%)
Spin: 35 overs (35%)
South Africa
Pace: 52.2 overs (54%)
Spin: 45 overs (46%)
India
Pace: 50 overs (56%)
Spin: 40 overs (44%)
Fellow semi-finalists Pakistan and England have both relied on at least eight overs of spin each match and have had key overs bowled by spin-bowling allrounders Mooen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim.
Australia on the other hand, have only had one match where they bowled eight overs of spin, their tournament opener against South Africa when Maxwell bowled his full complement.
In fact, pace has become even more important for Australia as the tournament has progressed and scores, perhaps surprisingly, have steadily increased.
Coach Justin Langer had expected the tournament to be bowler-dominated given the amount of traffic on UAE pitches which recently hosted the Indian Premier League, admitting he has been surprised by recent outcomes.
In the first 10 games of the Super 12 stage, the average score batting first was only 134.9. That average rose to 151.1 for the final 10 games of the Super 12s.
T20 World Cup - Average score batting first
Games 1-10 of Super 12s: 134.9
Games 11-20 of Super 12s: 143.4
Games 21-30 of Super 12s: 151.1
"At the start of the tournament I said our two biggest challenges were going be the conditions of the wickets … as conditions deteriorate, it usually brings teams closer together," Langer said.
"I've been fascinated about how the wickets have held up. It's been an incredible credit to the groundsmen over here, the ICC, the BCCI, it's been fantastic.
"You get to see great cricket. We've been a little surprised, but happily surprised to see how they've held together."
And Maxwell said Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood deserved credit for how they have exploited the conditions.
"The way our quicks have bowled with the new ball has been outstanding," Maxwell said.
"They've been able to get some movement out of these pitches. It's been two and a half months' worth of cricket on these pitches but they're still able to find something there and take wickets for us up-front.
"That's going to be key for us going forward. Any time you can take wickets in that Powerplay by using your best bowlers and using the right match-ups at the right time, it puts the opposition on the back foot.
"We saw that with the way England bowled to us in an earlier game. Once you take wickets in the Powerplay, it can be really hard to wrangle back that momentum."
2021 Men's T20 World Cup
Semi-finals
Nov 10: England v New Zealand, Abu Dhabi (6pm local, 1am Nov 11 AEDT)
Nov 11: Pakistan v Australia, Dubai (6pm local, 1am Nov 12 AEDT)
Final
Nov 14: TBC v TBC, Dubai (6pm local, 1am Nov 15 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
How the teams are grouped
Round 1
Group A: Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Namibia
Group B: Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Oman
Super 12s
Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Scotland, Namibia