Gros Islet (St.Lucia), May 13 (Inditop.com) Australian captain Michael Clarke can’t resist the temptation of facing England in the World Twenty20 final, but for now he is not thinking beyond Friday’s semi-final against holders Pakistan.
On the eve of the semi-final here Thursday, Clarke was candid in admitting that he is looking forward to face England in the final and set the tone for the summer’s Ashes series in Australia.
“I’d look forward to that, yeah. If we beat Pakistan and meet England in the final, it would be a good start to what is going to be a very good and interesting summer back in Australia as with the Ashes,” Clarke said.
“For me, right now I’ve got both eyes on Pakistan and I’ll worry about everything else after that.”
Clarke is wary of a Pakistan side, who have peaked at the right time, having been well beaten by 34 runs by Australia in a first round group match at Beausejour.
“This game Friday is a huge game for us. It’s going to be tough. Pakistan have a lot of spinners and they have a lot of class,” Clarke said. “Beating them a week ago is irrelevant. If we beat them, it doesn’t bother me who we play in the final. We’ll keep our fingers crossed. We’d love the trophy.”
Australia haven’t won the two previous World Twenty20s, but this time they look like a motivated lot with fast bowling trio Dirk Nannes, Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait in the wickets and dynamic opener David Warner leading a powerful batting line-up.
“No doubt it has motivated every player, not just throughout this tournament but throughout the last 12 months. We weren’t performing as well as we would have liked in this form of the game. We’ve certainly improved over the last 12 months. We’ve had to work very hard to get to the position we’re in. Even in this tournament there have been no easy games,” said Clarke.