Pakistan, a challenge for Australia in tour-concluding T20I?
Australia's tour to Pakistan has reached its final leg, with the one-off T20I scheduled for tonight at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. After Australia’s gutsy win in the Test series by 1-0, the men in green bounced back from the second ODI and sealed the ODI series win by 2-1.
Ben McDermottAnother masterclass win expected from Babar Azam?
With the kind of stage set by Pakistan in the white ball with the ODI series win, fans at Lahore will be awaiting revenge for the T20 World Cup semi-final defeat. Pakistan, however, will be missing out on the services of one of their most prolific and consistent players of this tour, Imam-ul-Haq. Who troubled opposition with the bat as well as the ball. Skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan will be looking forward to continuing their dominating streak from the T20 World Cup to end this tour with a win. Shaheen Shah Afridi also will be eyeing to continue his magic with the ball in powerplay and death overs.
Can Australia pull the match without experienced players?
On the other hand, Team Australia, though depleted of their experienced players, has a squad that can be well suited for the shorter format. Captain Aaron Finch will be looking to restore his form with the bat and lead the team from the front. The team will try not to repeat the same mistakes as committed in the ODI series and will do well with both bat and ball. Their power players Travis Head and Ben McDermott will look to flex their gaming muscles well to give a tough time to the hosts.
Pitch Report
With the pitch giving aid to pacers, we might see a flurry of wickets. If the team batting first defended their wickets well, then there would be high chances of seeing mammoth totals on the scoreboard. The team winning the toss will prefer to chase.
Shaheen Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Usman Qadir/Shadab Khan
Australia: Travis Head, Aaron Finch (c), Ben McDermott, Marnus Labuschagne, Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Sean Abbott/Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Swepson
Stats to keep an eye on
- Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have an average partnership of 56.65 in T20Is - the highest of any pairing with a minimum of 20 innings. Australia's highest is 36.66 between Aaron Finch and David Warner.
- Three of Aaron Finch's last four innings against Pakistan have been ducks.
One can expect a short format thriller with some high-hitting shots.