Smith relieved fixture tangle worked in Australia’s favour

The important thing is that the golf has been played.

Australia had arrived in Dubai not knowing whether they would be staying in Dubai, or heading to Lahore for the second semi-final in the Champions Trophy. Players on the Australia team, however, had taken every chance they could to get a round in.

More importantly, the extra time has allowed Australia to train in Dubai – even if it is at the nearby ICC Academy, rather than at the Dubai Stadium itself, which essentially has been too busy over the last two days to host a centre-wicket practice.

“We guessed right in the end,” Australia captain Steven Smith said. South Africa had also arrived in Dubai and headed back to Lahore. “So yeah, ideal to be here and have a couple of days preparation I think had we stayed and waited for last night’s result we would have had to have flown here today and play tomorrow.

“We wouldn’t get a chance to train on the surface or get used to the conditions that we have at the academy and if we had to go back we would have just got on the same plane back as New Zealand and had a day there before playing so this arrangement made sense to us.”

Part of the teams’ complaints have been about the security measures they have had to adhere to in Pakistan.

“We had a little reset and a chance to have a couple of days here outside of a pretty strict sort of bubble in Pakistan with the security and stuff. It’s been nice to just have a couple of days to chill here. A couple of guys have played some golf and wandered around and done some stuff like that. So yeah, we’re well prepared for tomorrow now and looking forward to it.”

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