Match Details
After losing the toss and getting to bat first, Pakistan posted a below par total on a very good batting deck in Lahore. As usual the onus was on skipper Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan to do the majority of the work. They both gave a solid start to the team as they added 67-runs for the first wicket. It was majorly Babar Azam who took apart the Aussie bowling attack. But debutant Cameron Green halted the hosts progress by taking two wickets in the consecutive balls. After this they never really recovered as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Babar Azam scored his 27th T20I fifty and got out at his score of 66. After Green it was Nathan Ellis who took wickets at clusters to push the Pakistani side down at 142/8. It was Usman Qadir’s cameo that took them past the 160-run mark. Qadir was unbeaten on 18 from just 6-balls as Pakistan finished at 162/8 in their 20-overs.
For Australia, Nathan Ellis picked up four wickets while Cameron Green took two wickets. Sean Abbott and Adam Zampa supported them with a wicket each.
Australia thought it would be cake walk after getting the start they did. But it wasn’t the case. Travis Head and Aaron Finch gave a steady and positive opening wicket stand. 3.3-overs and 40-runs on the board was when Head (26 off 14) skied one to deep mid wicket. Another 40-plus partnership followed it before Josh Inglis (24 off 15) edged one to the keeper. They saw a small collapse from 84/1 to 129/5. In the mix, Marcus Stoinis smashed 23 off just 9-balls. Aaron Finch played a captain’s knock at the other end. He worked hard for his runs and found one or the other way to score. Australia management would be happy as Finch came back to form with a stubborn fifty to his name. Finch’s (55 off 45) innings came to an end when they needed just 5-runs to win. Shaheen Afridi didn’t stop here as he cleaned up Sean Abbott for a golden duck. He bowled a top notch 19th over as he gave just 1-run and took two wickets in that over. But Ben McDermott (22* off 19) flicked the first ball of the last over from Haris Rauf for a boundary to finish the game in style with 5-balls remaining. Two wickets each for Shaheen Afridi, Mohammed Wasim Jr. and Usman Qadir.