Hobart Hurricanes batsman Owais Shah believes his experience helped him guide his team to a thrilling win over the Melbourne Renegades in the Twenty20 Big Bash League.
The Englishman finished unbeaten on 49 off 30 balls as the Hurricanes reached their target of 174 to record a seven-wicket win with a delivery to spare at Blundstone Arena on Wednesday.
With Shah needing one off the final ball, Renegades leg-spinner Shahid Afridi bowled a wide to hand the Hurricanes the win, with which they booked a home semi-final against the Sydney Sixers.
Shah said he practiced for situations like the one against the Renegades, and was pleased his experience paid off in the crucial moments.
"I've been there a couple of times. It's all about winning the key moments. For me, when I prepare, I try and prepare for a game and try and imagine myself in key moments and how I would react under pressure," he said after the win.
"I try and practice it, you can never nail it down and of course you are nervous. Sometimes you think about the negative things."
"But experience has told me that the quicker I can get back to thinking positively the more likely it is I'm going to win the game for the team. So I try and get back into my positive frame of mind and back myself and go from there."
Opener Jonathan Wells (72) gave the Hurricanes a fast start, while they would have expected to chase a bigger target after Aaron Finch (67) and Brad Hodge (63) put on 126 for the opening wicket.
But the Renegades failed to take advantage, and the Hurricanes needed 10 runs off the last over, which Shah and Phil Jaques managed with the help of Afridi's mistake.
Shah said he expected a yorker from Afridi, but was happy to see out the win with a wide.
"He actually surprised me, bowled a very slow googly, which was a little bit too wide," Shah said.
"As soon as I saw the line, I knew it would be wide so I was quite happy to see the fact he did all the work for me, so it was really nice."