Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan as they played out the rest: with a decisive seven-wicket win that also sealed the series 3-0. Pakistan limped to 117 before being bowled out in 18.1 overs, losing their last nine wickets for 56 runs. Adam Zampa ran around them after the Powerplay, his 2-11 in four overs the catalyst for their collapse. Babar Azam – who top-scored with 41 off 28, had led Pakistan to a good position in the first six overs; at that point the visitors were relatively pretty at 58 for 1.

Marcus Stonis put the contest out of danger in the run chase by smashing Haris Rauf for 22 runs in the over. His 27-ball 61 took Australia to the target with almost nine overs remaining after Pakistan got off to a respectable start in their bid to defend a below-par target. Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matthew Short went down early, while Jahandad Khan’s variations made life difficult for Australia in the power play. But as Stoinis later assured, the visitors were only delaying the inevitable.

Pakistan’s good start

Pakistan showed clear intent after showing very little in trying to chase down Australia in the previous match. Sahibzada Farhan fell early, but it was obvious what Pakistan were trying to do: take advantage of the Powerplay. Even Babar, usually a slow starter, found the boundary from the first ball and continued in that vein. Haseebullah Khan was enjoying his luck somewhat, his edges finding the boundary, but that too was the product of an intense flash. The result was Pakistan reaching 58 – their highest powerplay score in an innings against Australia.

Zampa’s witchcraft

Zampa’s impeccable control and skills make him a bit of a wizard in this format. For Pakistan today, he was also their tormentor – playing with the batters at will while varying the pace, line and variations, forcing the batters to doubt all the time.

It took just five balls before he ensured that Haseebullah’s chance ran out, the flash outside off stump finding the third over. In his third over, he ended Babar’s entertaining knock, adjusting the flight of his delivery as he saw the batter running into the wicket and clearing his stumps.

Even when he wasn’t taking wickets, he was putting pressure on the other end. Pakistan’s stand-in captain Salman Ali Agha bowled five balls before being put out of his misery by Aaron Hardie in the over, and his figures of 4-0-11-2 did not flatter him at all.

Pakistan’s record

It’s hard to expect batters to play high-risk cricket when you simply don’t have enough batters. Pakistan had made it clear to the team that they expected aggression from the start, even from players for whom it does not come naturally. Usman Khan tends to take a few balls before he can throw, but he came out of the first ball looking to work – even when the shot was never delivered. It never looked sustainable, as was demonstrated when he bowled his fourth delivery, triggering Pakistan’s collapse.

Each fall of a wicket was all the more worrying for the visitors because of the extreme length of their tail; they actually ran out of batters when the fifth wicket fell, with Abbas Afridi getting out at 7th over. This also proved to be a problem for them in the second game and remains a problem they need to find a way to resolve.

Australia finally gets the better of Haris

A recurring theme in this series is Haris Rauf coming out and dominating the Australian batter he finds at the other end. This was especially true for Glenn Maxwell, but Stoinis said after the match that he told Haris it was the only time “one of us” got Haris’ number.

And Stoinis did it in an exciting way. At the end of the eighth over, Australia were 57 for 2 and Pakistan still thought they had time to inject danger into the match. But the ninth over saw him hit Haris for two fours and two sixes off the first four balls, with the last six flying completely out of the Bellerive Oval. That began a spell of play that saw Stoinis plunder 45 from his next 12 deliveries, including a 25 over off Shaheen Afridi. The next over, Abbas caught Stoinis at deep square leg but it went over the boundary. Sixty-one runs were made from the last 21 balls to bring the curtains down on the match and the series.

Brief scores:
Australia 118 for 3 in 11.2 overs (Marcus Stoinis 61*, Josh Inglis 27, Shaheen Sha Afridi 1-43, Abbas Afridi 1-14, Jahandan Khan 1-17) beat Pakistan 117 all out in 18.1 overs (Babar Azam 41, Haseebullah Khan 24; Xavier Bartlet 1-25, Spencer Johnson 2-24, Nathan Ellis 1-20, Aaron Hardie 3-21, Adam Zampa 2-11) by 7 wickets

(Cricinfo)