Australia could have put an end to the difficult phase they are going through by finishing the triangular series in Zimbabwe on a winning note. However, Pakistan certainly didn’t want miss out on the chance to reestablish their dominance in the shortest format of international cricket and sealed the series by winning the final against the Kangaroos.

Winning the toss Australia decided to bat first. Their openers capitalized on the opponents’ poor fielding and formed a 95-run opening partnership in 9.5 overs. Following Aaron Finch’s departure for 47, they suffered a collapse and kept losing wicket at regular intervals.

Another opener D’Arcy Short kept the score ticking and finally returned to the pavilion scoring 76 runs. The rest of the batters weren’t able to make their mark as Australia registered a total of 183 for 8.

Mohammad Amir was the pick of Pakistan’s bowlers bagging 3 wickets. Shadab Khan also scalped two wickets while Shaheen Afridi, Faheem Ashraf, and Hasan Ali got one wicket each.

In reply, Pakistan didn’t have a smooth start to the run-chase as Glenn Maxwell struck twice to dismiss Sahibzada Farhan and Hussain Talat for a duck in the very a first over. Fakhar Zaman then restored their fortune with useful contributions from the middle-order batsmen.

Fakhar shared a 45-run partnership with Srafraz Khan to weather the storm and went on to stitch another 107-run stand with Shoaib Malik to set the stage for a comfortable victory for the top-ranked T20 side.

Sarfraz was run out for 28 and Jhye Richardson removed Fakhar after the opener made 91 off 46. Malik and Asif Ali then took their team past the finishing line by 6 wickets with 4 balls remaining. Malik played an unbeaten 43-run knock while Ali remained not out on 17.

 

Scores:

AUS 183/8 (20 Overs)