MOHALI, India, (Reuters) – It will be a virtual quarter-final when his team take on hosts India in a potential World Twenty20 humdinger today and retiring Australian all-rounder Shane Watson likes the simplicity of the situation.
A red-hot New Zealand have stormed into the last four with a hat-trick of wins, leaving India and Australia vying for the second semi-final slot from Group Two.
Both suffered their only defeats against the rampaging Kiwis and are level on points which means it would be a straight-forward situation with the winners of today’s match advancing to the business end of the tournament.
“I’ve played in games where the game is really based on the run rate and I’ve had some bad experiences with that,” Watson, who will quit international cricket after the tournament, told reporters.
“It’s good that it’s basically come down to us winning. It’s a simple equation. We know we are going to have to be at our absolute best against India.”
Every do-or-die match brings its own tension and the 34-year-old has seen enough in his 14-year-old international career to learn the virtue of calmness.
“It certainly gets you up for the game. Knockout games certainly you’ve got to be just as calm as you possibly can. I suppose that’s what I’ve learnt over my whole career,” Watson said.
“If you can stay calm and hold your nerve as long as you possibly can — normally there is a little bit of chaos in a knockout game — you’ve just got to try and not build it up any more than it is even though it’s a big game.”
Today’s contest could well be his last in an Australian shirt.
“From my personal perspective to have the opportunity to play in what is hopefully not but what could be my last game…this is I suppose as big a dream as you could imagine, playing India at home,” Watson said.
“It’s certainly going to be a huge game and I’m going to be really excited for it.”
