Australia skipper Aaron Finch has revealed that pacer Josh Hazlewood shared his experience of playing with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) which help the Team from the Down Under in the T20 World Cup.
Mitchell Marsh's power-packed unbeaten 77and a superb spell from Hazlewood fired Australia to their first T20 World Cup title against New Zealand on Sunday.
Hazlewood, who last month won an IPL title with CSK, played a key role in Australia's win in the summit clash.
"Yeah, he (Hazlewood) was really important with our bowling group. He shared his experience of CSK which was really important. To be able to bowl particularly at the end of the tournament where the wickets started to get more worn and hard length, which is Josh's speciality, I guess, was tough to hit," said Finch in the post-match press conference as per ICC.
"Yeah, that was really important that he passed on that information. Honestly, his performances in the IPL probably forced his way into the starting 11 over Kane Richardson who is a wonderful T20 bowler and someone who has been so important for us. But yeah, that was a tough call," he added.
Hazlewood's three for 16 helped restrict New Zealand to 172 for 4 before all-rounder Marsh, bolstered by in-form David Warner, struck a match-winning half-century to inflict yet more misery on New Zealand in ICC World Cup Finals.
Finch said Marsh moving in to bat at number three paid off for Australia as the all-rounder "loves the challenge" given to him.
"Mitch's move to No. 3 was a really important one in the West Indies. We felt as though he's someone who could play -- he obviously plays fast bowling very well," said Finch.
"Growing up in the WACA, he's very, very dominant off the back foot. He's someone who loves the contest, loves the challenge. And we just backed him from the start. We committed to him batting No. 3 for a long time.
"He knew that, and that was -- that's all you need sometimes. You need a little bit of backing and you need some confidence from everybody else," Finch signed off.
( With inputs from ANI )
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