Pakistan series will give Australia good lead to World T20 – http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Watson-c2558 – Cricket News Update
Australian all-rounder, Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/United-Arab-Emirates-c3033 (UAE), will give them a good preparation for the forthcoming T20 World Cup, in Sri Lanka.
The 31-year-old top-order batsman, who missed the recently concluded three-ODI series against Pakistan due to a calf-injury, sustained during http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746’s T20 squad in the UAE for the Pakistan series.
The Queenslander said that playing a strong T20 side like Pakistan on the heels of the World Cup will help them get back in the groove after having not played T20 cricket for a while.
“These matches are very important and will give us a good lead to the World Twenty20,” said Watson of the global event commencing in Hambantota, Sri Lanka on September 18. “We have not really had a long time together as a Twenty20 team so it will be good
playing Pakistan,” he added further.
Australia, currently ranked ninth on ICC’s T20 rankings table, only ahead of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, with
a fifty percent win-loss ratio.
The George Bailey-led Australia side has been placed in Group B in the 12-team mega event, alongside West Indies and Ireland. They will open their World Cup campaign against Ireland, at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, on September 19.
Watson, who has so far played 27 T20 Internationals for Australia, compiling 643 runs and picking up 21 wickets, reckoned the playing conditions in the United Arab Emirates are a bit similar to those in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 and will help them get acclimatized to the
heat and humidity ahead of the marquee tournament.
“It (UAE) is a great place to play cricket and I am excited and at times these are similar conditions we get in Sri Lanka as it gives us a good chance to combine as a team and understand our roles,” said Watson.
All the three ODIs between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 and Australia will be played in Dubai, on September 5, 7 and 10.
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