20-20 World Cup: Australia will be flexible with team selections, says Justin Langer

Australia head coach Justin Langer admitted it was a difficult call to leave out Kane Richardson and Ashton Agar against South Africa in their 20-20 World Cup opener. Zampa and Richardson have been an integral part of Australia's T20I setup. Langer clarified that the decision was made keeping the conditions and opposition in mind. The move worked well for Australia as the bowlers wreaked havoc, restricting South Africa to 118-9.

"It was a very, very difficult selection," Langer said to ESPN Cricinfo. "But because we went for the 7-4 set-up rather than the 6-5, and we felt that we were very well planned against South Africa, we knew that we wanted to try and make an impact in the powerplay overs, in the first six overs, we've seen that through the IPL. And we also knew the strength of South Africa upfront so, and thankfully it worked yesterday.”

The coach added that Australia will follow the same template and will be flexible in team selections going forward in the tournament as well. "We've said from day one to the players and we did it in the last World Cup, we did it to a degree in the last Ashes in England, that we'll just look at the conditions, we'll look at the opposition, we'll look at the match-ups, and we'll make the call that we think is right for the team," Langer said. "It doesn't always work out that way, but with all the information we've got, we'll work through that."

Despite stopping South Africa to a low score, Australia faltered in their chase and were able to cross the line with just two balls to spare.