Australia 147 for 9 (Short 32, Rauf 4-22, Abbas Afridi 3-17, Muqeem 2-21) beat Pakistan 134 (Usman 52, Irfan 37*, Johnson 5-26, Zampa 2-19) by 13 runs
It looked like it would be a run fest, but then it evolved into a low-scoring thriller. In a shapeshifting T20I in Sydney, Australia adapted better than Pakistan, holding their nerve to defend a modest total of 147 and edging to a 13-run victory, which gave them the T20I series.
Australia made sure they did just enough things better than Pakistan, and on that count, ended up worthy winners.
The flight, and the uncontrolled descent
As Pakistan have learnt over the white-ball tour, when in doubt, give Rauf the ball, and that worked the charm again. He was the only man who could arrest the slide, and it didn’t take him long. A pacy bouncer that Fraser-McGurk couldn’t get on top off and slogged to the cover fielder punctured Australia, before a leading edge sent Josh Inglis on his way.
Pakistan sloppy in the field, again
Pakistan tend to take one of their most famous characteristics each game, and turn the dial up to 11. Sometimes it’s the unpredictability, at other times it’s the fast bowling. Today, they went for the comic ineptitude in the field they have picked up a reputation for.
The warning signs were there from the first over, which was when Naseem made a mess of a Fraser-McGurk top edge, and it only got worse from there.
Pakistan’s no-power play
Pakistan looked at the way Australia had been dragged back and perhaps thought “this won’t happen to us”. It didn’t, because they never got going at the front end of the innings in the first place. They did lose Babar (pick-up flick to deep square leg) and Sahibzada Farhan (pull straight to deep midwicket) to careless shots, but for much of the first nine overs, there were scarcely any attempts to hit a boundary.
But Rizwan attempted the same shot off the next ball, only to miscue it for David to take a superb catch diving forward. By this time, the asking rate was approaching ten, and Pakistan’s top order had written cheques they unfairly expected their lower order to honour.
Johnson brilliance
When Johnson began the innings with a wide down leg side that went for five, and followed it up with a wide outside off that would have done the same had first slip not done brilliantly, any comparisons with the other Johnson, Mitchell, would have only pertained to the phase in his career that spawned the unfortunate “he bowls to the left, he bowls to the right” chant. But it took the South Australian no time to turn his fortunes around, controlling his high pace and exploiting sideways movement beautifully to rip through Pakistan.
Farhan’s soft dismissal was only the beginning, and Pakistan were dented during the middle overs, and that proved telling.
Rizwan fell in Johnson’s return spell before Salman fell the very next ball, leaving Pakistan’s ultra-long tail one wicket away from being exposed. When Usman and Irfan put up a 58-run stand, it was once again Johnson who struck, taking two more in an over when his extra pace saw Usman smear a pull into the air before Abbas was dispatched in similar fashion. It allowed Adam Zampa’s double-wicket over effectively seal the game despite Irfan’s presence.
Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000