Nathan Ellis, Finch headline Australia’s win

Australia won the one-off T20I against Pakistan by three wickets at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, thanks to Nathan Ellis’ four-fer and Aaron Finch’s half-century. Australia won the chase by 163 runs with five balls to spare, capping off their first-ever three-format tour of Pakistan on a positive note. 

The finished outcome may appear to be thus. For the most part, however, Australia appeared to have the upper hand over the hosts, particularly with Aaron Finch in the middle. 

He kept one end up, ensuring that Australia maintained control of the chase. He stitched two quickfire stands for the first two wickets with Travis Head and Josh Inglis, laying the foundation for Australia’s run chase. As the visitors plundered 84 runs in 8.3 overs, losing both aggressive hitters, Head and Inglis were on the attack. 

Before becoming the sixth batsman to fall, barely five runs short of the target in the 19th over, Finch went on to score a 45-ball 55, his 16th T20I fifty. 

Pakistan continued to take wickets on a regular basis. Usman Qadir had Inglis caught behind in the ninth over and then had Marnus Labuschagne stumped by Mohammad Rizwan’s fine work in the next over. 

Finch, on the other hand, maintained revitalising Australia’s chase and pieced together a couple of more useful partnerships with Marcus Stoinis and Ben McDermott. While Finch was soaking up deliveries, Stoinis smashed five boundaries in his brief nine-ball stay to boost Australia’s scoring rate. 

Pakistan, on the other hand, was dealt two blows each time. Stoinis’ dismissal was quickly followed by Cameron Green’s, and Finch’s by Sean Abbott’s, all for a duck. McDermott, on the other hand, got the team across the line with a solid undefeated 19-ball 22. 

Pakistan’s captain hit his 25th T20I half-century, laying the foundation for the team’s solid start after being put in to bat. Babar put together another powerful opening stand with Mohammad Rizwan, this time scoring 67 runs in in 7.4 overs. Before Babar broke loose in the fourth over, creaming Nathan Ellis for three consecutive boundaries, the partnership had taken a cautious approach. 

Pakistan’s best total in the first six overs of a T20I versus Australia was 56 runs in the powerplay. Cameron Green, on the other hand, struck twice in two balls in his first over. Fakhar Zaman failed to clear the in-field and was caught at mid-on in his attempt to attack the bowler off the opening ball, while the medium pacer had Rizwan playing early to a slow delivery and being knocked over. 

The Pakistan skipper continued to play in a methodical manner, taking advantage of scoring opportunities when they presented themselves, but there was no real effort to put Australia on the back foot. He was eventually drawn by Adam Zampa in the 16th over, and his effort to hit him over the offside field was intercepted by the deep extra cover fielder. 

Nathan Ellis was everywhere in Pakistan’s middle and lower classes. Asif Ali, Khushdil Shah, and Shaheen Afridi were all dismissed by the pacer, the latter two off successive deliveries. Pakistan, on the other hand, continued to score quickly to reach 162. 

As a result, Finch made a strong comeback, scoring 55 off 45 balls to lead Australia to victory in the chase. Finch had gone 16 innings without a half-century in international cricket, including 13 T20Is, and had scored nine single-figure runs in that time, culminating in back-to-back ducks to end the current ODI series. Coach Andrew McDonald had put his faith in Finch 24 hours prior, and he was rewarded for his faith. 

Published by: Shivani Bhalke

Edited by: Subbuthai Padma