T20 World Cup: Australia was a confident unit despite poor form before the tournament, says Mitchell Marsh
Despite their indifferent shape in format in bilateral cricket before the series, Australia was a confident unit that went into the T20 World Cup, Mitchell Marsh said. Australia finished second in its group in the Super 12, although the tournament came after problems in bilateral series it played in the West Indies and Bangladesh.
"Our shape lines ahead of the World Cup probably indicated we were going to fight," Marsh told reporters on Monday.
"But I think if you look at our line-up, when we're a strong team, with the amount of experience, great players and some of the best T20 players in the world on this team, we were really confident."There are a lot of dangerous teams in T20 cricket, but we were confident and now we are in the final, anything can happen."
A depleted Australia lost eight out of ten T20 games in the West Indies and Bangladesh, but won four of their five Super 12 games at the World Cup and finished second in Group 1 behind England.
"As a team, we just got here, we got on really well and I think that's very important during a World Cup," said Marsh. "There's a good atmosphere in this team right now. We got a bit of momentum ahead of the semi-finals and that's what you need, so hopefully we can continue."
Marsh was one of Australia's standout performers on Saturday, reaching 53 in a 124-run second wicket partnership with David Warner when the Australians gave the West Indies an eight-wicket loss to confirm their place in the top four .
Pakistan were the only team in the competition to have won all five Super 12 games, and Marsh admits that the Australians face a difficult task as they make it to Sunday's final. "Everyone knows how dangerous Pakistan is, they have great experience, great depth in their bowling," he said.
"They are a very versatile team. But I think we are too. We have a great experience, we have a lot of depth with both racket and ball, so it should be a fantastic game." . "