AUSSIES TRAPPED PAK IN A SPINNING TWISTER

It proved to be a no contest between Pakistan and Australia where the former faltered to a paltry 96/9 in the allotted 20 overs. Glenn Maxwell started the downfall of Pakistan sending Awais Zia into the dug out in the 3rd over of the innings with the help of a catch by Kane Richardson. From then on Pakistan could not stitch a single partnership as wickets kept tumbling in a bizarre fashion.

Shahid Afridi and Aaron Finch, the captains of Pakistan and Australia respectively sharing a light moment at the toss.

Debut:

There were as many as 5 players making their International T20 debuts in this match. They were Sean Abbott, Cameron Boyce, Phillip Hughes and Kane Richardson (Australia) and Saad Nasim (Pakistan). Cameron Boyce made an outstanding debut picking up 2 wickets for 10 runs bowling his full quota of 4 overs at an economy rate of mind boggling 2.50. Saad Nasim the other debutant from Pakistan was the stand out batsman of the lot scoring 25, highest individual score in the innings. Richardson and Abbott picked up a wicket each as both conceded less than 6 to the over. Hughes, one of the debutantes was out trying to pull a not so short ball bowled by Wahab Riaz which he could only manage to sky it up. It was a debutantes day looking at all the performances barring Hughes.

First Innings:

After winning the toss Shahid Afridi chose to bat which I think was a wise decision looking at the conditions. But their batsmen could not do full justice to the decision as Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The top and middle order could not hang around as they lost 7 wickets for 57 runs inside 13 overs. The tail enders offered some resistance to the Australian attack as they did not get dismissed inside 20 overs. This pitch was spin friendly and the later overs were bowled by pacers. That is why I think they escaped from being all out. Throughout the innings they could only manage to hit 4 boundaries, now can you imagine that in a T20I game. The total of 96 in 20 overs is considered futile in any conditions.

Chase:

Pakistan started out strong as they put pressure on the Aussies by making few early breakthroughs. But the real pressure in any chase in a limited overs fixture is the target and the required run rate, that factor was completely wiped out of the equation as Australia surpassed the target having 6 wickets in hand and 6 overs to spare thanks to Au-spinners and Warner's half century off 38 balls with 4 - FOURS and 3 - SIXES

David Warner acknowledging the crowd after his match winning innings against Pakistan in Dubai

The match was not a close combat but there are lot of positives in for the Australians as young talent proved their might. Can they make life difficult for the experienced guys. Is experience a must in T20 cricket? Glenn Maxwell was awarded Man-of-the-Match for his 3 crucial wickets that broke the backbone of Pakistan and 17 runs with the bat.