Pakistan thrash Australia as bowlers run riot at Zayed Stadium
Abu Dhabi October 25: A mesmerizing display of sustained hostility and accuracy by Pakistani bowlers resulted in a thumping 66 run win for the hosts in the first match of the three match T20I series against Australia played at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Stadium.
Pakistan successfully defended their 155 run total through a stunning blitz by their opening bowlers Imad Wasim and Faheem Ashraf who razed to the ground the power packed Australian top-order in the Power Play overs leaving them reeling at 22 for six in 5.2 overs.
Imad who was playing his first international match of the year set some serious panic in the Australian ranks by bowling captain Aaron Finch and his opening partner D’Arcy Short in the very first over of the innings.
Finch who was backing away to Imad from the outset, exposed his stumps and the left-armer Imad fired in one of his signature sliders to castle the burly opener who missed the skid off the pitch, as indicated by the CricViz graph 11 of Imad’s deliveries to right-handers would have hit the stumps.
The wickets kept tumbling as Faheem joined the party from the other end accounting for the big-hitters Glenn Maxwell and Chris Lynn.
The match was all but over after the capitulation in the Power Play overs, the lower-order partnership between Nathan Coulter-Nile (34) and Ashton Agar (19) took the Australians past their lowest ever total by the eventual score of 89 was the third lowest of their T20I history.
The victory further testifies the depth of Pakistan’s bowling in the format which has played a major role in the team’s rise to the top of the ICC T20I Rankings.
The Men in Green have the second best economy rate in the last two years (7.21) behind only Afghanistan (7.16), as backed by the CricViz Economy Rate graph, coupled with the striking prowess throughout the innings, the Pakistan bowling juggernaut continues to roll over the best in the world.
Pakistan’s incredible T20I streak started under Sarfraz Ahmed’s captaincy in September 2016 as the side thumped England at Old Trafford in the one-off T20I.
The team has gone from strength to strength backed by the incredible bowling depth and the consistent contributions of the top-order led by star batsman Babar Azam.
Babar who was the mainstay of the batting performance with an unbeaten 68, held the Pakistan innings together as wickets fell from the other end.
Babar displayed great skills against the Aussie fast bowlers who were extracting decent pace and bounce at the start of the Pakistan innings.
The right-hander took on Billy Stanlake and Coulter-Nile with a series of attacking shots as indicated by the CricViz chart and while the spinners Adam Zampa, Agar and Short kept him in check, Babar continued to rotate the strike as pandemonium struck at the other end (Pakistan lost seven wickets for 28 runs in a space of 27 balls.)
Babar’s contribution was the reason Pakistan went past the 150 run mark after which the bowlers seized control of the game with a breath-taking display.
