Australia coach Mickey Arthur says getting off to a good start at the top of the innings is the key for his side ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup which begins in Sri Lanka early next week.
The Aussies are fresh from a 2-1 T20 series defeat to Pakistan in UAE, but bring some confidence into the T20 World Cup having won the final game in impressive style, with David Warner and Shane Watson impressing at the top of the order with a 100-plus opening stand.
Speaking afterwards, Arthur said Warner and Watson were crucial to Australia’s sucess.
“If your openers get you off to a really good start, you get momentum and it sets you up for a score,” Arthur said.
“And then if your opening bowlers start the same way and you take early wickets, you can put the opposition under some real pressure.”
He added: “If you lose early wickets in this kind of format and you play a tentative brand you get yourself into trouble and that’s where we were in game one (against Pakistan when they posted their second-ever lowest T20 score).
“It just shows the beginning of each of your innings are crucial.”