Dominant Pakistan clinch another T20I series

Pakistan continued their dominant run in the shortest format as they clinched their tenth consecutive Twenty20 International series with an 11-run win over Australia in the second encounter of the three-match series in Dubai on Friday (October 26). After being set a modest 148 by Pakistan, Australia wobbled early on and failed to recover - managing just 138 for 8 following their dismal show in the first game.

Pakistan suffered another collapse but the bowlers, for the second consecutive game, saved them the blushes with a stellar show. Australia walked out the happier side at the half-way stage but it soon turned into a nightmare. D'Arcy Short struggled against Imad Wasim and Faheem Ashraf in the first two overs before he was run out in the third. A drive straight from Aaron Finch caught Wasim's finger and crashed into the stumps at the bowler's end before Short, the non-striker, could ground his bat. Chris Lynn smoked a six but fell to Wasim in the fifth over. Finch too didn't last long and was dismissed by Shadab Khan in the quest for quick runs. At the end of the first seven overs, the Australian score - 34 for 3 - painted a damning picture.

The onus then fell on Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh to drag the team out of trouble and keep the runs flowing. They started slow, scoring 21 in the first 20 balls of their partnership, to bring the equation down to 95 in the last ten overs. Marsh and Maxwell scored 30 for the fourth wicket before Australia suffered another wobble. The former was caught behind after poking at a Shadab delivery while Alex Carey fell to Mohammad Hafeez before he could get his eye in.

Maxwell was left too with much to do with as Australia slipped from 31 for 3 to 73 for 6 in the 14th over. He was dropped twice and did raise a few hopes when he picked up 13 runs from the 17th over to reduce the target to 43 in last three overs. Both Maxwell and Nathan Coulter-Nile kept Pakistan on their toes with a 59-run stand before they eventually ran out of steam and lost their nerve.

Earlier, Fakhar Zaman failed to slog his way out for the second time and fell cheaply after Pakistan opted to bat. Hafeez and Babar Azam took the team forward with a 70-run stand and laid a solid platform for a late onslaught.

However, while the duo did keep the runs flowing, at no stage did they threaten to take the game away from the visitors. They struggled to accelerate and went after Adam Zampa without much success. Zampa and Short dried out the runs before the pacers returned to inflict several dents.

Pakistan capsized from 99 for 1 in 14 overs to 131 for 6 by the 19th over. Both Babar and Hafeez fell in space of seven runs before the middle-order crumbled under pressure. A six in the last over lifted the side over 145 which proved just about enough on the night.

Brief scores: Pakistan 147/6 in 20 overs (Babar Azam 45; Nathan Coulter-Nile 3-18) beat Australia 136/8 in 20 overs (Glenn Maxwell 52; Shadab Khan 2-30) by 11 runs.