Men Of Steel

Kane Williamson

His 45 off 42 has been described as an ice-cool innings. But in all likelihood, Kane Williamson was probably sweating bullets as he watched his colleagues depart one after the other and there was barely any time to recover from that shock. As a result, Williamson decided to finish the game Miandad-style, smashing one with all his might over mid-on with a wicket to go. It was all or nothing at that moment and he took the risk at the appropriate time. With Pat Cummins bowling, Williamson knew that he had to finish the game in that over. Letting the dangerous Mitchell Starc have a go in the next over at the number 11 batsman would have been suicidal.

Ravichandran Ashwin

As opposed to the norm of the competition thus far, the UAE were outclassed, not by a pace-heavy attack, but a brilliant spinner. Ashwin's well-disguised doosras and flighted deliveries left the men from the Middle East in a rut, from where they failed to recover from throughout the match. Things are looking slightly better for the spinners. On Friday, Imran Tahir got a five-wicket haul and yesterday Ashwin ran through UAE's middle order. It may be a good sign for the sub-continental teams who may be encouraged to introduce more spinners into the attack.