Australia produced a clinical effort with both bat and ball in the third T20I in Hobart and completed a 3-0 whitewash over Pakistan. A collective effort from the bowlers ensured Pakistan were bowled out for a mere 117 before Marcus Stoinis smashed an unbeaten 61 to guide them home.
Pakistan skipper Mohammed Rizwan decided to rest and Salman Ali Agha was the captain. He won the toss and opted to bat first. Pakistan had an excellent powerplay. They raced to 17 off the first nine balls before Spencer Johnson who took 5/26 in the second T20I bounced out Sahibzada Farhan for the second time in a row.
Haseebullah Khan and Babar Azam continued the flurry of boundaries and runs. The former made 23 off 17 balls while Babar got 24 in just 12 deliveries. The latter even hit Stoinis for three consecutive fours in the fifth over.
Post the powerplay, things changed drastically. Adam Zampa got rid of Haseebullah in his first over before Aaron Hardie dismissed Usman Khan in the following over. The stand-in captain Agha didn’t get going either and he faced nine deliveries for one run before Hardie pinned him LBW.
Zampa came back to knock over Babar for 41 before Hardie got two wickets in the same over. Shaheen Shah Afridi struck a couple of boundaries before Pakistan crumbled to 117 all out in 18.1 overs.
In reply, Australia lost a couple of early wickets. Shaheen got the better of Matthew Short with a clever slower one. Jake Fraser-McGurk hit four boundaries in the first three overs before debutant Jahandad Khan had him caught at cover.
Stoinis powers Australia to an easy win
Josh Inglis and Marcus Stoinis got together post that and they started off slightly slowly. They added only 18 runs in the first 21 balls of their partnership. Stoinis then broke the shackles as he smacked Haris Rauf for two fours and two sixes in the 9th over.
Abbas Afridi broke the 55-run stand with the wicket for Inglis who was out for 27. Stoinis then smoked three sixes and a four to wrap things up in a jiffy. Australia completed the run-chase in just 11.2 overs.
It was Australia’s seventh consecutive win in T20Is over Pakistan. They completed the chase with 52 balls to spare which is the second-most for them against Pakistan.
Stoinis was named the player of the match for his knock of 61 which came off just 27 balls. He smashed five sixes along with five fours. Spencer Johnson was awarded the player of the series for eight wickets in three games.
BRIEF SCORES: Pakistan 117 allout (Babar Azam 41, Haseebullah Khan 24, Aaron Hardie 3/21, Adam Zampa 2/11) lost to Australia 118/3 (Marcus Stoinis 61*, Josh Inglis 27, Jahandad Khan 1/17) by seven wickets.
