Published: Mar 25, 2016, 04:36 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 25, 2016, 04:43 PM (IST)
Steven Smith and Shane Watson’s stand of 74 for the fifth wicket helped Australia post 193 for 4 in 20 overs against Pakistan in ICC World T20 2016, Group 2 match at Mohali on Friday. They pulled Australia from a situation as bad as 57 for 3. The Australian skipper who has been struggling to find form with the bat choose an absolute right match to bring out one of his best Twenty20 International (T20I) innings as he scored his second T20I fifty. Smith and Watson were unbeaten on 61 and 44 respectively. Pakistan’s Mohammad Sami was the most expensive bowler of the lot, leaking 53 runs in his 4 overs. The Australian wickets were picked by the likes of Wahab Riaz and Imad Riaz. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Pakistan vs Australia, Match 26, Super 10 stage, ICC World T20 2016 at Mohali
Usman Khawaja who has been in great touch of late went off the mark with a boundary through the covers after leaving the first three balls for a dot. After bagging five off the first over, he welcomes Mohammad Sami with a boundary, cutting it towards the leg side. Khawaja ended the second over also with a four, this time an elegant hit beating Shoaib Malik at cover point. It was for the very first time Khawaja was playing a match against his birth nation since his international debut five years back. Just when he seemed to have got going, Wahab Riaz made the crucial breakthrough.
Khawaja stepped aside to push it towards the covers but missed it and the yorker from Riaz smacked the batsman’s middle stump, leaving Australia at 21 for 1 after 3.4 overs. That dismissal saw David Warner walk in. It was necessary to push him up the order due to Steven Smith’s poor ongoing form. And it is a known fact, Warner is a great player of the new ball. He left the first delivery he faced before targeting the boundary towards the backward point.
A four from Finch in the next over followed by a boundary from Warner again. These two looked in good touch, the left and right combination was paying for Australia. Unfortunate for them, Riaz removed Warner as well. It was a timely breakthrough just before Warner could make any more damage. While Warner tried to play it towards the off side, he got the top of middle stump hit. A cracker of 148.1 ks from Riaz did it the trick; he beat him with the speed.
Steven Smith and Finch carried on Australia’s innings for a while, shared a 15-run stand for the third wicket before Finch was sent back to the dugout. His arm does forced Finch to defend who eventually watched the ball hit his middle stump too. The top three batsmen were bowled and it was crucial for the local boy [Glenn Maxwell] to stick around to ensure big total. The duo of Smith and Maxwell got going from the very first over. Maxwell targeted Shahid Afridi when the Pakistani skipper came in for third over. Maxwell smashed him for three boundaries, thereby bagging 13 runs off it.
The 13th over was a huge one for the duo, Maxwell went after Mohammad Sami for two boundaries and a superb big hit over the long off. Before Maxwell could continue the fireworks, Imad Wasim removed him too. A slog from Maxwell was caught by Ahmed Shezad, leaving Australia. That was probably the turning point because that dismissal brought in Shane Watson.
Watson who is playing his final series for Australia along with Smith troubled every bowler, smashed them all over the park leaving the opposition with no answers. Earlier, Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. They made two changes with bringing in Finch for Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazlewood replaced John Hastings. On the other hand, Pakistan made one change, Riaz was back replacing Mohammad Irfan.
Brief scores:
Australia 193 for 4 in 20 overs (Steven Smith 61*, Shane Watson 44*; Imad Wasim 2 for 31) vs Pakistan.
(Sakshi Gupta, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a sports fanatic whose mantra in life is “do only what you enjoy.” Her Twitter handle is @sakshi2929)
