Australia’s Ben Dwarshuis and Matthew Kuhnemann shake hands with Pakistan players (AP Photo/KM Chaudary) Pakistan produced a commanding performance to hand Australia their heaviest defeat in T20 cricket to date, sealing the series 3-0 just five days before the T20 World Cup. On Sunday, the hosts beat the Australians by 111 runs in the third and final match on a pitch dominated by spinners again. The win eclipsed Australia’s previous biggest T20 loss, a 100-run defeat by England in Southampton in 2005. Opting to bat first, Pakistan posted a dismal 207-6, their highest ever T20 total against Australia. Opener Saim Ayub contributed 56 off 57 balls while Babar Azam, batting at the new No.4 position, anchored the innings with an unbeaten 50 off 36 deliveries. Shadab Khan then blazed 46 off 19 balls and hit five sixes to take Pakistan past the 200-run mark.
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Australia’s struggles against spin continued as left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz took a career-best 5-18 on the slow wicket. Earlier, Shaheen Shah Afridi cleaned up Australia’s top order, dismissing skipper Mitchell Marsh and Matt Renshaw in his first two overs. Nawaz later removed Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Green, Josh Philippe and Cooper Connolly to complete a five-wicket haul, leaving Australia 96 in just 16.5 overs. Captain Salman Ali Agha praised his team’s performance. “Over the last two days we have been excellent in all departments, I can’t find any faults. We dominated them. I am in a great mood at the moment. I know how to handle captaincy when I go into bat and I really want to do that in the World Cup as well,” he said. Australia captain Marsh admitted that the visitors were outplayed throughout the series. “Chasing is tough on that surface… we will learn from it. We will definitely focus on this series and look forward to the World Cup,” he said. Pakistan won the first two matches by 19 and 90 runs and now enter the T20 World Cup on a dominant note, showing both batting firepower and spin mastery.
