In what was supposed to be a dress rehearsal before the showpiece match, Australia couldn’t bring their best game forward against a determined Pakistani side.

Aaron Finch had put Sarfaraz Ahmed’s team to bat, and Pakistan did not deter despite an early hiccup in the form of Harris Sohail’s departure. Instead, Fakhar Zaman counter-attacked brilliantly, often putting the short deliveries to the boundary with his powerful pull shots. Zaman combined brilliantly with the middle-order batsmen and stabled the innings with some sensible approach towards his batting. A late surge from Asif Ali meant that Pakistan rushed their way towards a target of 194/7 in 20 overs as Zaman top-scored with 73 runs.

Shaheen Afridi starred with three wickets as he removed Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell and Nic Maddinson to completely dismantle the Aussie batting order. D’Arcy Short tried to stabilize the innings as he scored 28 runs off 34 deliveries, but eventually his inability to strike fast meant that the batting order succumbed to the increasing pressure of the required run rate.

Alex Carey initiated a late revival of sorts, but that wasn’t enough as he ran out of partners from the other end despite scoring 37 runs off 24 deliveries. He carried his bat in the end, but Pakistan’s disciplined bowling meant that the Aussies were restricted to 149/7 at the end of the 20 overs.

This particular clash enrages and boosts the excitement regarding Sunday’s final between both the teams.

 

Scores:

PAK 194/7 (20 Overs)