Published: Jul 02, 2018, 05:03 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 02, 2018, 05:05 PM (IST)
Billy Stanlake tore through the Pakistan top order, reducing them to 24 for 4 in his seventh over in the second match of the T20 Tri-Series in Zimbabwe, at Harare Sports Club. Pakistan never recovered: they were bowled out for 116 and lost by 9 wickets in the 11th over. Stanlake finished with figures of 4-0-8-4, the second-best for an Australian (after James Faulkner‘s 5 for 27, also against Pakistan), and the only 3-wicket haul by an Australian while conceding less than 10 runs.
Bowling with pace and extracting steep bounce off a length, Stanlake had Mohammad Hafeez caught at slip, Hussain Talat held brilliantly at gully, Fakhar Zaman caught-behind down the leg, and Sarfraz Nawaz, also caught at slip.
Some resistance came from Shoaib Malik, who became the first cricketer in history to play a hundred T20Is. Malik was run out after Asif Ali called him for a single. Asif himself got 21 before being bowled by Marcus Stoinis. Shadab Khan (29) and Faheem Ashraf (21) hit a few blows, but Pakistan were too far behind in the match after Stanlake’s initial burst. Andrew Tye finished things by taking the last 3 wickets in 4 balls.
In response, Aaron Finch went about clobbering the bowlers right from the word go. He lost D’Arcy Short, caught at mid-wicket off Hasan Ali, but found an able ally in Travis Head. With 68 not out in 33 balls, Finch things finished off at breakneck pace.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 116 in 19.5 overs [Shadab Khan 29(25); Billy Stanlake 4-0-8-4, Andrew Tye 3.5-0-38-3] lost to Australia 117 for 1 in 10.5 overs [Aaron Finch 68*(33); Hasan Ali 2-0-18-1] by 9 wickets with 55 balls to spare.
Player of the Match: Billy Stanlake.
