Shane Watson

Shane Watson had a hard time during this World Cup. Having scored only 23 runs in the first two matches and on the back of a prolonged lean patch, the all-rounder was dropped for the match against Afghanistan as Australia preferred to go with Mitchell Marsh. Watson felt his World Cup was over, he claimed later. But perhaps as a last chance, the Australian think-tank gave him another go against Sri Lanka, and the 33-year-old all-rounder grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He scored a valuable 67 and claimed a wicket and followed it up with 24 and a wicket against Scotland in the last group match. Yesterday when Watson came in to bat, his side were in trouble at 59 for three. From there Watson pulled his side out of trouble with an unbeaten 64-run-knock. He had trouble facing Wahab Riaz and survived a scare, but made most of that opportunity to see Australia through to the semifinal.