Australia defeated Pakistan by 10 wickets in the third and final T20I at Perth Stadium, and clinched the three-match series 2-0.
Australian captain Aaron Finch, after winning the toss, had said that he wanted to exploit the moisture in the pitch, and his bowlers couldn’t have done it better.
The extra bounce in the wicket, deemed “rock hard” by Waqar Younis, was surely taken advantage of by the hosts who often struggled to even put bat to ball. In fact, towards the end of the innings, tail-enders Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Hasnain combined for an 8-ball sequence when they swung and missed, again and again.
Towards the start, new opener Imam-ul-Haq started confidently, and with him looking good and Babar Azam being in exquisite form of late, a solid foundation was expected.
However, Mitchell Starc removed Babar and Mohammad Rizwan on back-to-back balls in the 3rd over, after which Pakistan batsmen’s trouble with bounce began. When that did not happen, they themselves planted catches in the hands of fielders. When they were a bit inaccurate with their offerings, the Aussies dived around and took some blinders.
In the second innings, it seemed that Australia were batting on an altogether different surface.
Aaron Finch and David Warner hardly broke a sweat in dealing with whatever Pakistan’s bowling unit hurled at them, much of which was wayward.
Finch scored a 36-ball 52 while Warner contributed a 35-ball 48 as Australia triumphed by 10 wickets and clinched the series with ease.
Teenage pacers Musa and Hasnain were both expensive, with the former leaking 39 runs and the latter 32.
Australia innings
Musa to Finch, 4 runs
Musa to Warner, 1 run
Musa to Finch, 1 run
Musa to Finch, 0 run
Musa to Finch, 2 runs
Musa to Finch, 1 wide
Aus 100-0 after 11 overs
Hasnain to Finch, 1 run
Hasnain to Warner, 1 run
Hasnain to Finch, 1 run
Hasnain to Warner, 1 run
Hasnain to Warner, 1 wide
Hasnain to Warner, 0 run
Hasnain to Finch, 1 run
Aus 94-0 after 10 overs
Musa to Finch, 1 run
Musa to Warner, 1 run
Musa to Warner, 4 runs
Musa to Warner, 2 runs
Musa to Warner, 0 run
Musa to Finch, 1 run
Aus 85-0 after 9 overs
Hasnain to Finch, 0 run
Hasnain to Finch, 1 run
Hasnain to Finch, 0 run
Hasnain to Finch, 0 run
Hasnain to Finch, 6 runs
Hasnain to Warner, 1 run
Hasnain to Finch, 2 wides
Aus 75-0 after 8 overs
Wasim to Warner, no run
Wasim to Warner, 2 runs
Wasim to Warner, 6 runs
Wasim to Finch, 2 run
Wasim to Finch, 1 run
Wasim to Warner, 1 run
Aus 63-0 after 7 overs
Hasnain to Finch, no run
Hasnain to Warner, 1 leg bye
Hasnain to Warner, 2 runs
Hasnain to Warner, 2 runs
Hasnain to Warner, 1 wide
Hasnain to Warner, no run
Hasnain to Finch, 1 run
Aus 56-0 after 6 overs
Amir to Warner, 4 runs
Amir to Warner, 1 wide
Amir to Warner, 4 runs
Amir to Finch, 1 run,
Amir to Finch, no run
Amir to Warner, 1 run
Aus 45-0 after 5 overs
Hasnain to Warner, 1 run
Hasnain to Finch, 1 run
Hasnain to Finch, 6 runs
Hasnain to Finch, 2 runs
Hasnain to Finch, no run
Hasnain to Finch, no run
Aus 35-0 after 4 overs
Musa to Finch, 1 run
Musa to Finch, 4 runs
Musa to Finch, 6 runs
Musa to Warner, 1 run
Musa to Finch, 1 run
Musa to Finch, no run
Aus 22-0 after 3 overs
Amir to Warner, no run
Amir to Warner, no run
Amir to Finch, 1 run
Amir to Finch, 1 wide
Amir to Finch, no run
Amir to Finch, 1 wide
Amir to Warner, 1 run
Amir to Warner, 4 runs
Aus 14-0 after 2 over s
Finch, 4 runs
Musa to Finch, no run
Musa to Finch, no run
Musa to Finch, 4 runs
Musa to Finch, no run
Musa to Finch, no run
Aus 6-0 after 1 over
Amir to Warner, no run
Amir to Warner, no run
Amir to Warner, no run
Amir to Warner, 6 runs
Amir to Warner, no run
Amir to Warner, no run
Pakistan’s woeful innings
Australian captain Aaron Finch chose to field after winning the toss citing that he wanted to exploit the moisture in the pitch, and his bowlers couldn’t have done it better.
The extra bounce in the wicket, deemed “rock hard” by Waqar Younis, was surely taken advantage of by the hosts who often struggled to even put bat to ball. In fact, towards the end of the innings, tail-enders Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Hasnain combined for an 8-ball sequence when they swung and missed, again and again.
Towards the start, new opener Imam-ul-Haq started confidently, and with him looking good and Babar Azam being in exquisite form of late, a solid foundation was expected.
However, Mitchell Starc removed Babar and Mohammad Rizwan on back-to-back balls in the 3rd over, after which Pakistan batsmen’s trouble with bounce began. When that did not happen, they themselves planted catches in the hands of fielders. When they were a bit inaccurate with their offerings, the Aussies dived around and took some blinders.
Only Iftikhar Ahmed (37-ball 45) and Imam (14 off 15 balls) reached double figures as Pakistani finished with 106-8.
Pakistan innings
Pak 106-8 after 20 overs
Abbott to Hasnain, no run
Abbott to Hasnain, no run
Abbott to Amir, 1 run
Abbott to Amir, no run
Abbott to Amir, no run
Abbott to Amir, no run
Pak 105-8 after 19 overs
Richardson to Hasnain, 0 run
Richardson to Hasnain, 0 run
Richardson to Hasnain, 0 run
Richardson to Hasnain, 0 run
Richardson to Hasnain, 0 run
Richardson to Amir, 1 run
Pak 105-8 after 18 overs
Starc to Hasnain, no run
Starc to Hasnain, no run
Starc to Amir, 1 run
Starc to Amir, no run
Starc to Amir, 6 runs
Starc to Amir, no run
Starc to Amir, 1 wide
Pak 96-8 after 17 overs
Richardson to Hasnain, 4 runs
Richardson to Shadab, caught
Richardson to Shadab, no run
Richardson to Shadab, no run
Richardson to Shadab, no run
Richardson to Iftikhar, caught
Pak 92-6 after 16 overs
Stanlake to Shadab, no run
Stanlake to Iftikhar, 1 run
Stanlake to Iftikhar, no run,
Stanlake to Shadab, 1 run
Stanlake to Shadab, no run
Stanlake to Iftikhar, 1 run,
Pak 89-6 after 15 overs
Abbott to Shadab, no run
Abbott to Iftikhar, 1 run
Abbott to Iftikhar, no run
Abbott to Imad, OUT
Abbott to Iftikhar, 1 run
Abbott to Imad, 1 run
Pak 86-5 after 14 overs
Agar to Imad, 1 run
Agar to Iftikhar, 1 run
Agar to Imad, 1 run
Agar to Imad, 2 runs
Agar to Iftikhar, 1 run
Agar to Imad, 1 run
Pak 79-5 after 13 overs
Richardson to Iftikhar, 4 runs
Richardson to Iftikhar, no run
Richardson to Iftikhar, 2 runs
Richardson to Iftikhar, no run
Richardson to Iftikhar, 4 runs
Richardson to Khushdil, OUT
Pak 69-4 after 12 overs
Agar to Khushdil Shah, 1 run
Agar to Iftikhar Ahmed, 1 run
Agar to Khushdil Shah, 1 run
Agar to Khushdil Shah, 2 runs
Agar to Khushdil Shah, no run
Agar to Iftikhar Ahmed, 1 run
Pak 63-4 after 11 overs
Stanlake to Khushdil, no run
Stanlake to Iftikhar, 1 run
Stanlake to Khushdil, 1 run
Stanlake to Iftikhar, 1 run
Stanlake to Iftikhar, no run
Stanlake to Khushdil, 1 leg bye
Pak 59-4 after 10 overs
Agar to Khushdil, 1 run
Agar to Iftikhar , no run
Agar to Khushdil, 1 run
Agar to Iftikhar, 1 run
Agar to Khushdil, 1 run
Agar to Haris, OUT
Pak 54-3 after 9 overs
Stanlake to Haris, 1 run
Stanlake to Iftikhar, 1 run
Stanlake to Haris, 1 run
Stanlake to Haris, 1 wide
Stanlake to Haris, no run
Stanlake to Iftikhar, 1 run
Stanlake to Haris, 1 run
Pak 48-3 after 8 overs
Agar to Iftikhar, no run
Agar to Haris, 1 run
Agar to Iftikhar, 1 run
Agar to Iftikhar, 2 runs
Agar to Haris, 1 run
Agar to Haris, 2 runs
Pak 41-3 after 7 overs
Stanlake to Iftikhar, 0 run
Stanlake to Iftikhar, 0 run
Stanlake to Iftikhar, 4 runs
Stanlake to Iftikhar, 2 runs
Stanlake to Iftikhar, 0 run
Stanlake to Haris, 1 run
Pak 34-3 after 6 overs
Starc to Iftikhar, 4 runs
Starc to Iftikhar, 0 run
Starc to Iftikhar, 0 run
Starc to Iftikhar, 4 runs
Starc to Iftikhar, 4 runs
Starc to Iftikhar, 0 run
Pak 22-3 after 5 overs
Abbott to Haris, 0 run
Abbott to Haris, 0 run
Abbott to Haris, 0 run
Abbott to Imam, caught
Abbott to Imam, 4 run
Abbott to Imam, 0 run
Pak 18-2 after 4 overs
Richardson to Haris, 0 run
Richardson to Imam, 1 run
Richardson to Imam, 0 run
Richardson to Imam, 2 run
Richardson to Imam, 0 run
Richardson to Imam, 0 run
Pak 15-2 after 3 overs
Starc to Haris, o run
Starc to Haris, o run
Starc to Haris, o run
Starc to Rizwan, OUT bowled
Starc to Babar, OUT lbw
Starc to Babar, 4 runs
Starc to Babar, 1w
Starc to Babar, 1w
Pak 9-0 after 2 overs
Abbott to Imam, 4 runs
Abbott to Imam, 0 run
Abbott to Imam, 0 run
Abbott to Babar, 1 run
Abbott to Babar, 0 run
Abbott to Imam, 1 run
Pak 3-0 after 1 over
Starc to Imam, 1 run
Starc to Imam, 0 run
Starc to Babar, 1 run
Starc to Babar, 0 run
Starc to Babar, 0 run
Starc to Imam, 1 run
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The Aussies currently lead the series with 1-0 , much credited to star batsman Steve Smith’s heroics where he smashed 79 runs to seal victory on Tuesday.
The opening match of the series saw heavy showers which washed out the match and possibly saved the tourists from going down for 1-0.
Captain comments:
Babar says batting first would not have been his choice, had he won the toss.
If we’d won the toss we would have bowled first. We have two debutants. We want them to play and have a chance on this wicket and the wicket is good for bowling. — Babar Azam
Finch says his decision reflects the moisture in the pitch which he wants to exploit.
There’s a little bit of moisture in the wicket so hopefully we can get the brand new ball to move around a bit and chase it down later on. There’s some stats that support that as well. We’ve just gone with the one spinner on this wicket. We think the extra spinner will be valuable. — Aaron Finch
Playing XI:
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Musa
Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch(c), Steven Smith, Ben McDermott, Ashton Turner, Alex Carey(w), Ashton Agar, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Billy Stanlake
With additional reporting by Sohail Imran