Matthew Wade: Was nervous, thinking it’s my last game

Wicketkeeperbatter Matthew Wade thought the T20 World Cup semifinal against Pakistan would ldquopotentially be his last opportunity to represent Australiardquo before becoming the star of the show with a sizzling 41run knock that helped his side reach the finalWade blazed his way to an unbeaten 17ball effort to play a pivotal role in Australiarsquos dramatic fivewicket win over Pakistan on ThursdaylsquoI just wanted to do wellrsquoldquoI was a little bit nervous coming into the game and knowing potentially it could be the last opportunity to represent Australiardquo Wade said at the postmatch press conference ldquoI just wanted to do well and really wanted us to win this game give us an opportunity to win the whole thingldquoThe final might be my last game too As Irsquove said in the past Irsquom comfortable with it Irsquom sure when I get the tap on the shoulder Irsquoll look back on the last three or four years and be proud of the way I could come backrdquo he added With Australia needing 62 off 30 balls Wade smashed three consecutive sixes off Shaheen Shah Afridi in the penultimate over to seal the game for his teamAlso Read T20 World Cup Happy to repay teams faith in me says Matthew WadeAsked if he was targeting Afridi regarded as one of the finest T20 bowlers Wade said ldquoWe didnrsquot really target him to be honest Marcus Stoinis 40 not out off 31 balls played a terrific innings to be able to get it to a total we started to think could be chaseable towards the end thereldquoI think the way he played freed me up to be able to do what I did at the end there Hersquos a terrific bowler and I just got lucky tonight I supposerdquo Wadersquos international career had seemed all but over when he was dropped before the 201718 AshesReinventing oneselfWade 33 also went three years without an international T20 Since then he has reinvented himself as a specialist batterAsked to reflect on his journey Wade said ldquoItrsquos hard to reflect on tonight so quickly to be honest Hasnrsquot sunk in yet Irsquom sure when we get back to the hotel and tomorrow morning it will sink in more about how we went about it than what we just had But Irsquom happy that I got the opportunity to reinvent myself go away and come back with more confidence and really feel like I belong at the international level now I reinvented myself into a batsman and all of a sudden now Irsquom playing as a rsquokeeperbatsman now batting at No7rdquo81No of runs put on by Matthew Wade and Marcus Stoinis off just 41 balls for the sixth wicketAlso Read Matthew wades into PakThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever