Following a washout in the series opener, both Australia and Pakistan locked horns in the penultimate T20I of the three-match series in Manuka Oval, Canberra on Tuesday (November 5). Pakistan, thus, played their first full game under Babar Azam’s tenure but their winless streak extended further as Steve Smith’s 80 not out took Australia to a comfortable seven-wicket win and hand his side a 1-0 lead.
Batting first, Babar Azam led from the front. The right-hander continued to spearhead the batting line-up as the likes of Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail and Asif Ali failed to get going. Talking about Zaman, he fell for a single-digit score for the fifth time in succession.
Babar stitched few vital stands in between but fell amidst the run of play for an impressive 50 (38). He was gutted and showed his frustration on Iftikhar Ahmed as the 25-year-old looked set for a big knock. Iftikhar led the show in the death overs and returned with a 34-ball 62 not out (with a strike rate of 182.35) to propel the team score to 150 for 6.
In reply, Aaron Finch and Co. got off to a decent start but were soon reduced to 48 for 2 with both the openers back in the pavillion. Apart from Mohammad Irfan and Shadab Khan, the rest of the bowlers comprising Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz and Imad Wasim leaked runs at will and failed to inject regular scalps.
Smith continued to find the gaps without much discomfort and held one end with a sedate knock. He added a 58-run stand for the third wicket with Ben McDermott (21) and did the bulk of scoring in the unbeaten fourth-wicket stand with Ashton Turner.
This became Australia’s first win in seven T20Is versus Pakistan. Also, this became their sixth-win in a row; equalling their most in succession in 2010 and 2017-18
The third and final T20I will be played at Perth Stadium, Perth on November 8 (Friday).
