Babar Azam Holds Ground As AUS Fight Back, PAK At 82/4 In 12 Overs

Hardie gets his second wicket! Agha Salman is plumb lbw. He departs for 1 off 9 balls, and Pakistan are now 70/4 in 9.4 overs. Irfan Khan is the new man in.

Usman Khan Falls to Hardie!

Usman Khan’s aggressive charge backfires again! Hardie outsmarts him with a slower ball, and Usman miscues it to sweeper cover, where Nathan Ellis takes a brilliant catch near the boundary. Usman departs for 3 off 4 balls.

Now, the captain Agha Salman comes to the crease

Haseebullah Khan Departs!

And, Adam Zampa strikes in his first over! A tempting googly floats wide of off, Haseebullah Khan goes for the big shot but edges it to Matthew Short at a backward point. Haseebullah departs for 24 off 19 balls, with 3 fours.

Usman Khan comes to the crease.

Pakistan make a solid start in Hobart, with the pitch proving to be a belter. The powerplay ends at 58/1, with Haseebullah Khan scoring 24 off 18 balls (3 fours) and Babar Azam 25 off 14 balls (4 fours). Now, Adam Zampa takes the ball.

Babar Azam is in brilliant touch, smashing hattrick boundaries off Marcus Stoinis deliveries. He dabs a back-of-length delivery past third man, pulls one firmly behind square, and then thrashes a fuller delivery through cover. With Babar’s 22 off 10 balls Pakistan move to 45/1 after 4.5 overs.

The fifth over saw 1, 4, 4, Wd, 4, L, 1, 1 – 16 Runs! Stoinis will surely regret this expensive over!

Eyes will be on Jehandad Khan, the 21-year-old all-rounder from Rawalpindi, making his international debut for Pakistan. He is left-arm seamer and hard-hitting lower-order batter.

Meanwhile, Haseebullah Khan is in good form, delivering a four off Bartlett’s delivery, while Babar adds 9 runs off 5 balls, including a boundary.

Just when Sahibzada Farhan found his rhythm with a crisp four, Spencer Johnson strikes! Farhan pulls a short delivery from Johnson and is caught by Bartlett at mid-wicket. The same fate as in the previous game for Farhan, as he falls for 9 off 7 balls, with 1 boundary.

From Pakistan Sahibzada Farhan and Babar Azam are at the crease. Bartlett opens the attack for Australia.

Pakistan have won the toss against Australia and have opted to bat first.

A surprising name missing in the playing XIs is Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan who seems to be resting. Now, Salman Agha will lead the team in his absence.

Australia (Playing XI): Matthew Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Josh Inglis(w/c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Aaron Hardie, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Spencer Johnson, Adam Zampa

Pakistan (Playing

The weather forecast for the third T20I between Australia and Pakistan are promising. According to Accuweather.com, there’s only 3% chance that it can rain today in Hobart.

Before Pakistan’s tour of Australia in 2024, the men in green held a superior head-to-head record with 13 wins to 11 losses. However, following Australia’s back-to-back victories in the last two games, the win-loss record between the two teams is now tied at 13-13.

Pakistan (Playing

Australia (Playing XI): To be updated

After losing the ODI series 1-2, Australia bounced back and clinched victories in the first two T20I matches, winning the first game by 29 runs at the Gabba (rain-shortened – 7 overs match). The Josh Inglis-led team won the second T20I by 13 runs against Pakistan.

Pakistan Squad: Mohammad Rizwan(w/c), Babar Azam, Arafat Minhas, Omair Yousuf, Haseebullah Khan, Irfan Khan, Usman Khan, Agha Salman, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Sahibzada Farhan, Abbas Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem

Australia Squad: Matthew Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Josh Inglis(w/c), Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Josh Philippe, Spencer Johnson.

The first ball of the third Australia vs Pakistan T20I is scheduled to be bowled at 1:30 pm IST, with the toss at 1 pm. The match will be live-streamed on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website in India. It will be telecast on the Star Sports Network TV channels in India.