LAHORE: Australia's limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch finally had some runs on the board as the tourists defeated Pakistan by three wickets with five balls to spare in the one-off T20 International at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Tuesday night.
After losing the three-match ODI series 1-2, Australia ended their campaign on a winning note, first restricting the hosts to 162/8 despite skipper Babar Azam's polished 66 off 46 deliveries, and then scoring the required runs in the final over, with Finch contributing a half century.
In a repeat of last year's ICC T20I World Cup semifinal, Pakistan again batted first and were off to a superb start, thanks to Azam's quick-fire 66. The Pakistan skipper equalled India's Rohit Sharma on 26 T20I half centuries, tied for second on the all-time list.
But Nathan Ellis pegged Pakistan back, returning figures of 4/28 in only his third T20I appearance for Australia. His incisive bowling saw the defending T20 World Cup champions well within reach of the target for a majority of their reply.
Finch, after his miserable form in the ODIs, top-scored with 55, while Travis Head (26), Josh Inglis (24), Marcus Stoinis (23) and Ben McDermott (22) played useful knocks as Australia wrapped up the win with five balls to spare.
The one-off T20I win adds to Australia's Test series victory under skipper Pat Cummins, with Pakistan having won the ODI series 2-1.
After being put in to bat by Australia, Pakistan got off to a flier as their openers put on 56 runs in powerplay. Restricting Azam and Mohammad Rizwan — ranked first and second respectively in the ICC T20I batting rankings — was the challenge before the Australian bowlers, and they got the breakthrough when Cameron Green cleaned up the wicketkeeper-batter for 23.
The Australian all-rounder struck again off his very next ball, with Fakhar Zaman giving a straight catch to Finch. Pakistan struggled through the middle overs after a dream start, with Iftikhar Ahmed (13 from 13) and Khushdil Shah (24 from 21) struggling to break loose.
But as long as Azam was at the crease a decent score always looked possible, and the Pakistan skipper registered the 26th T20I half-century of his remarkable career. Only Virat Kohli has more T20I 50s (30) than the Pakistan captain.
Brief scores: Pakistan 162/8 in 20 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 23, Babar Azam 66, Khushdil Shah 24; Nathan Ellis 4/28, Cameron Green 2/16) lost to Australia 163/7 in 19.1 overs (Travis Head 26, Aaron Finch 55, Josh Inglis 24, Marcus Stoinis 23, Ben McDermot 22 not out) by three wickets. IANS
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