More than a finisher: David soars to new heights
Given the chance to bat at No. 5, David showed what could be possible for him in Australia’s T20 side
Alex Malcolm26-Jul-20252:37
Tim David smashes Australia’s fastest T20I century
A few weeks ago, prior to heading to the Caribbean, Tim David revealed he had been having discussions with his personal mentors about the next phase of career.At 29, after 280 T20 matches, there was a danger he could be typecast like a cameo actor, destined to forever fulfill in the same role as a T20 finisher.The fruits of those discussions bloomed in Basseterre on Friday night. Having been given the chance to bat in the powerplay for just the third time in his Australian T20I career, with the other two being tactical in-game promotions in rain-shortened sprints, he scored his first T20 century blasting the fastest T20I hundred by an Australian and rescuing the team from a perilous position to mow down 215 with six wickets and 23 balls to spare.Related
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“I’ve spent a lot of time practising my power-hitting, and to be honest, now I’m trying to focus on shot selection,” David said in the post-match presentation after his breathtaking knock. “Because that power game is always there, and it’s what I built my game around, it’s important to make the right decisions at the right time and obviously, if you bat for a length of balls without getting out, then you get a chance to make big scores.”David not only debunked some misconceptions about his batting capabilities, he destroyed them. His shot selection was superb from ball one in this innings. Even though he scored a boundary off his first ball, with a controlled pull behind square, he picked off five singles off his next six balls with Australia under enormous pressure at 65 for 3.Mitchell Marsh had chewed up 12 dots balls in his 19-ball 22 while Cameron Green had faced six in his 14-ball 11 with both innings marred by a series of wild hacks and ill-advised stroke choices trying to keep up with the double-digit required rate.ESPNcricinfo LtdDavid did nothing of the sort. With Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie in control of the initial post-powerplay period, David respected the tight lines and lengths, controlling his hands to play high percentage strokes to the sweepers. He waited for the right length and whenever they missed it disappeared with a controlled swing of the bat. He did not face a dot ball until he was 19 off 8 but his only risk was a lofted drive over cover for six.”A lot of the practice I’ve been doing recently over the past six months has helped a lot,” David said in the post-match press conference. “It’s about shot selection and not actually trying to hit it too hard. And it felt tonight like I wasn’t trying to hit it too hard, and it probably ended up with some good percentage of being able to hit the ball over the ropes.”That lone dot clicked him up a gear. He smashed his next four balls for six in same over off Motie. His only miscue was a safely toed edge trying to play a high percentage cut to a wide short ball from Hosein to set a new Australian record for the fastest T20I half-century. Either side of that he hit Hosein out of the ground.West Indies skipper Shai Hope oddly chose to follow those two overs with an over of offspin from Roston Chase. Such was the confidence of David, he turned down a single to long-on despite Australia still needing 75 from 54 to win with Mitchell Owen at the other end.He left a wide yorker next ball, his fourth dot of the innings and his third in four balls faced. Another player might have overswung at the next to make up for the momentum-killing inertia. David’s next two swings were smooth and powerful, and the fourth umpire had to run the replacement box of balls out twice.Tim David celebrates the fastest T20I century by an Australian off 37 balls•Getty ImagesThe only time David struggled was when he neared his century. His only other true miscue came on 90 when he failed to clear deep midwicket, but Brandon King did him a favour by spilling a simple chance on the rope.He admitted the thought of a rare T20 century had got to him.”I don’t play for records, but certainly I didn’t think I’d get the opportunity to score hundred and it is your childhood dream to score hundred for Australia,” David said. “That was definitely in the back of my mind, and the position I’ve been playing, I probably played a lot of T20 matches now and obviously I’ve never scored a hundred, so it was a little bit of foreign territory for me for a little bit.”But I’m just really thankful I had Mitch Owen out there who’s scored a couple recently, and my younger team-mate, but he’s certainly had the experience and helped me through.”It was his first century in any professional cricket since he made two List A centuries in three innings for Surrey in August 2021. Having considered batting David higher in the T20I order for some time prior to this series, it is the type of innings that might make Australia’s selectors revisit David’s potential as an ODI finisher in the wake of Glenn Maxwell’s retirement.Regardless, he proved he is more than a one-trick pony in T20 cricket and Australia’s rebuild towards the T20 World Cup is looking ominous as a result.