Warilla junior Adam Zampa's rise to international stardom is complete after claiming the Twenty20 World Cup on Monday.
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The wrist spinner finished with 13 wickets for the tournament, the second highest haul of any player, at an average of 12.07 and a remarkable economy rate of just 5.81 for the short form.
The personal high watermark came with 5-19 against Bangladesh, a feat which could have been even more impressive had wicketkeeper Matthew Wade held the catch for a hat-trick.
In the final, Zampa took 1-26 off his four overs, claiming opener Martin Guptill for 28, with New Zealand 2-76 in the 12th over at the time, before reaching 4-172.
Master blaster David Warner, who hit 53 off 38 as Australia chased down the total for the loss of just two wickets and with seven balls to spare, was named player of the tournament.
However, captain Aaron Finch was full of praise for Zampa, saying he would also have been worthy of the honour.
"It's such an important role in T20 cricket, as a leg-spinner it can be a brutal game," Finch told radio station SEN.
"You can have games where you get absolutely met and you can have games where you can get a few cheapies.
"The way that he bowled, for me, he was man of the tournament. Davey pipped him at the post at the end there, but he was fantastic."
Mitch Marsh proved to be the hero in the final, an often-maligned man in the Australian squad stood up with 77 off 50 balls, with four sixes and six fours.
Zampa's overall statistics were only bettered by Sri Lanka's Pinnaduwage Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva, who snared 16 wickets at 9.75, while Kiwi Trent Boult also had 13 wickets.
The Shellharbour 29-year-old's crowning glory came 11 years after winning the under 19 one-day World Cup with Marsh, Josh Hazlewood and fellow South Coast junior Nic Maddinson.
Zampa broke into the Australian one-day and Twenty20 squads in 2016, but he only became a regular feature in the past two years.
Speaking to cricket.com.au before the final, Zampa admitted he thrived on proving the doubters wrong.
"I've always been underestimated," he said.
"Even as a 15 or 16 year old growing up in the country, there was always a city guy that was better than me or there's always been someone that turns their leg-spinner more than I do.
"So even after this tournament, there'll be another series that comes up and I'll be under-estimated again, so I do thrive off that.
"This team in particular, we were under-estimated and we spoke about it as a collective before the World Cup.
"Our build-up wasn't ideal, but when you look back even 18 months, two years ago, we were the No.1 team in the world and all these names are back in our squad so we were pretty confident."
The World Cup triumph was also a marker in Justin Langer's career as coach, after being under-pressure over his coaching style and man-management in recent months.
"He has probably taken a big back seat and let a lot of other staff play their roles," Hazlewood said.
"Players as well, (Langer has empowered them) to take a bit more ownership of what they're doing in and around training and games." with AAP
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Tim Barrow
When it comes to sport - at professional and community level - in the Illawarra, I'm here to provide insight, context and opinion, as well as the latest news you won't find anywhere else.
When it comes to sport - at professional and community level - in the Illawarra, I'm here to provide insight, context and opinion, as well as the latest news you won't find anywhere else.
