Australia were never in the hunt to haul in world No1 Pakistan’s impressive total of 194 for 7 in the T20I in Harare on Thursday, with the world No2 Ozzies reaching just 149 for 7 off their 20 overs.
The only batsmen to shine for the Aussies was wicket-keeper Alex Carey with a face-saving 37 from 24 balls. Record century-maker on Tuesday, Aaron Finch, went for just 16 while fellow opener Darcy Short struggled to 28 off a glacial 34 balls.
Best with the ball for Pakistan was Shaheen Afridi who took the wickets of Finch, Short and the dangerous Glenn Maxwell for 37 off his four overs.
Earlier some big hitting off the last two overs, accumulating 35 runs, helped Pakistan set a challenging target of 195.
Top scorer for Pakistan was Fakhar Zaman, who knocked up a blistering 73 off just 42 balls at the top of the innings. Asif Ali also contributed a quick fire 35 off just 18 balls at the death.
Standouts with the ball for Australia were Andrew Tye who took 35 for 3 from his four overs and Jhye Richardson who took 43 for 2 from his full complement.
Earlier Australia won the toss and decided to bowl in cloudy conditions with the world No1 ranking on the line.
Check out the full score card below.
TEAMS
Australia XI: Aaron Finch (c), D’Arcy Short, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Nic Maddinson, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Ashton Agar, Andrew Tye, Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake
Pakistan XI: Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Hussain Talat, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (c/wk), Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi
