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LAHORE, Feb 01 (APP): Half centuries by ace batter Babar Azam, all-rounder Saim Ayub and a fifer by Muhammad Nawaz helped Pakistan complete whitewash of Australia 3-0 as they beat the Kangroos by 111 runs in the third and final T20I of the series at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday evening.
Pakistan scored massive 207-6 through half centuries by Babar Azam 50 (36), Saim Ayub 56 (37) and a cameo by Shadab Khan 46 (18) which included five massive 6s. Babar Azam returned unbeaten.
This is the second occasion that Pakistan have whitewashed Australia in a T20I series as they had outclassed Australia 3-0 in a T20I series in Dubai in 2018.
Half centuries by Babar Azam, Saim Ayub and cameo from Shadab Khan propelled Pakistan to 207-6 in the last T20I of the three match series against Australia at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday. Pakistan had raced to 96-2 by the middle of their innings with Saim Ayub batting at 54 (32) and Babar Azam unbeaten 27 (18) and reached 151-4 in 16 overs with a six from Shadab Khan’s bat.
Salman Agha, whose heroics contributed to Green Shirts’ domination in the three match series, Salman Agha won the toss for the third time in the series and elected to bat first on the Gaddafi stadium turfs which have tended to go slow as the match progresses.
More than 32,000 cricket fans watched the match at the historic ground in Lahore and created a great atmosphere. The fans not only encouraged the Pakistani team but also appreciated the excellent performance of the Australian players. During this, slogans were also raised enthusiastically regarding international competitions.
After winning the toss, Pakistan scored a huge total of 207 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs, in which the top and middle order batsmen played a prominent role. Young opener Saim Ayub batted aggressively and scored 56 runs off 37 balls, which included six fours and two magnificent sixes. Fakhar Zaman gave the team a fast start by scoring 10 runs off seven balls, while captain Salman Agha played a short innings.
Former captain Babar Azam showed responsible batting and scored an unbeaten 50 runs off 36 balls and provided stability to the innings in the middle overs. Khawaja Nafi scored 21 valuable runs off just 12 balls, while vice-captain Shadab Khan played an aggressive style and played a smoky innings of 46 runs off just 19 balls, which included five sixes and two fours. Faheem Ashraf scored 10 unbeaten runs in the last overs to take the team’s total beyond 200.
The Australian bowlers failed to control the Pakistani batting line. Ben Dovarshis took two wickets while Matthew Cohenman, Cameron Green, Matthew Short and Cooper Connolly took one wicket each.
Chasing a tough target of 208, the Australian batting line-up proved to be a sand wall for the Pakistani bowlers. The visitors were unable to cope with the early wickets and Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Short and Matt Renshaw were soon dismissed.
Left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi got the team off to a good start by taking two crucial early wickets, but all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz bowled brilliantly, taking five wickets for just 18 runs in four overs and destroying the Australian batting line-up. Abrar Ahmed and Naseem Shah also played important roles by taking one wicket each.
The Australian team was bowled out for just 96 runs in 16.5 overs. Cameron Green (22) and Marcus Stoinis (23) tried to resist but could not last long against the Pakistani bowling attack.