Warner fifty sees Aussies to victory

Cricket365
October 23, 2014

Australia and Pakistan contested a low-scoring one-off T20 in Dubai on Sunday, with the Aussies winning by six wickets as they chased down the below-100 score with ease.

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first, and they took zero advantage of their home ground support. They lost a wicket every second over on average, as they failed to navigate past the Australian bowlers.

The Aussies fielded four debutants for the game, with Phil Hughes, Kane Richardson, Shaun Abbott, and Cameron Boyce handed their caps. The latter three all contributed with the ball.

Pakistan only had one debutant, and oddly he was their best performer. Saad Nasim top-scored with 25, as the rest of the Pakistan batsmen failed to get past the teens, and only four reaching double figures.

Glenn Maxwell was the pick of the Aussie bowlers, opening the bowling and taking three wickets in his three overs, for just 13 runs. He accounted for three of the top four batsmen, ripping the heart out and leaving a few wickets for the debutant bowlers to claim.

As such, Pakistan recorded a paltry 96 for nine, and the Aussies chased that down in the 15th over. Warner was the key as he opened and closed the knock, ending on 54 not out off 39 balls, including three sixes.

For Pakistan, Raza Hasan was their bowling pick, taking two wickets in the absence of both Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez. But even they would have had a nigh impossible task defending such a poor batting effort.

The sides will next clash in the ODI series, also in the UAE, which starts on 7 October in Sharjah.

Pakistan: Ahmed Shehzad, Awais Zia, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Akmal, Umar Amin, Shahid Afridi, Saad Nasim, Anwar Ali, Wahab Riaz, Raza Hasan, Mohammad Irfan

Australia: Aaron Finch, David Warner, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Phil Hughes, James Faulkner, Brad Haddin, Shaun Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Cameron Boyce