Pakistan defeated Australia. (Photo- PTI)
PAK vs AUS 1st T20I: Pakistan registered a spectacular victory in the first match of the T20 series against Australia. In this match played at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan defeated the visiting team by 56 runs. This victory will give great confidence to Pakistan in its preparations for the T20 World Cup, because the team defended a small target easily. An amazing performance was seen from Pakistan’s bowling side, in front of which the Australian batsmen had no success.
Pakistan put 168 runs on the board
In this match, Pakistan, batting first, scored 168 runs losing 8 wickets in 20 overs. During this, Sam Ayub played an inning of 40 runs in 22 balls and made a quick partnership of 74 runs with captain Salman Aga for the second wicket. Salman Agha also played an important inning of 39 runs. However, the run pace slowed down a bit in the middle overs. Babar Azam, who is returning to the T20 team, scored only 24 runs in 20 balls. Usman Khan contributed 18 runs and Mohammad Nawaz contributed 15 unbeaten runs.
For Australia, Adam Zampa performed brilliantly and took 4 wickets for 24 runs in 4 overs. Whereas, Xavier Bartlett and Mahali Beardman took 2-2 wickets. Due to which Pakistan team was successful in making a big score. However, this score proved to be the winning total.
Australia’s batting was a flop
While chasing the target of 169 runs, Australia’s innings completely faltered. It could score only 146 runs at the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs and lost the match by 22 runs. Cameron Green scored the highest 36 runs for Australia. Whereas, Xavier Bartlett contributed 34 runs. Travis Head could also score only 23 runs. But Australia played 48 dot balls during this innings, which became a major reason for the defeat.
Abrar Ahmed bowled brilliantly for Pakistan, giving only 10 runs in 4 overs and taking 2 wickets. Sam Ayub also managed to take 2 wickets. Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz made important contributions to the team’s victory by taking 1 wicket each.