Hardie, Zampa and Stoinis set up clinical win

A clinical bowling performance led by Aaron Hardie (3-21) and Adam Zampa (2-11) followed by Marcus Stoinis’ power-packed innings (61* off 27) helped Australia to a crushing seven-wicket win over Pakistan in the final T20I in Hobart. Opting to bat, Pakistan raced away to 58/1 in the PowerPlay but then imploded sensationally to finish on a paltry total of 117. Australia did lose a few wickets in the bid to finish the game quickly but the result was never in doubt. Stoinis’ blitz ensured that the game was done with 52 deliveries to spare.

Earlier in the evening, it seemed like Pakistan might put up their best batting performance of the series on a deck that was suited for fluent strokeplay. Babar Azam started off in a hurry with his trademark flicks and cover drives to get the visitors off the blocks. Sahibzada Farhan, the other opener, also struck a couple of boundaries but once again was undone by the extra bounce from Spencer Johnson. With regular skipper Mohammad Rizwan resting, Pakistan brought in Haseebullah at No.3 to give the youngster a go.

However, he had a very nervy little innings that swung between streaky to elegant like a seesaw. The southpaw eventually fell in Zampa’s first over while trying to up the ante. That breakthrough was the start of a staggering collapse that came out of the blue, particularly under such good batting conditions. Hardie stuck to the basics to have Usman Khan caught in the deep and stand-in captain Agha Salman LBW. Pakistan’s batters were too eager to keep the run rate high, possibly knowing how good the pitch was, but ended up taking the wrong options in the process.

Babar was starved of the strike amidst this implosion and his initial fluency also dampened as the innings went on. Zampa then struck the big blow by castling the ace batter to wreck the tourists’ hope of getting to a competitive total. From there on, the innings meandered to an underwhelming finish. If not for a few blows from Jahandad Khan and Shaheen Afridi, the total may have struggled to get past triple figures. To think that all this ensued after Pakistan registered their highest-ever PowerPlay total against Australia makes it an incredible downfall.

Australia’s openers, Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk, fell cheaply as they tried to blast their way to the total. Both batters were deceived by slower balls as Pakistan’s seamers took a cue from their experience in Sydney. Short was way too early into the loft and skied one to extra cover while Fraser-McGurk sliced a drive straight to point. It brought Stoinis who was promoted to no.4 and the right-hander looked in the zone from the get-go. Even as skipper Josh Inglis struggled for impetus, Stoinis belted them at will.

Stoinis’ onslaught started with a 22-run over off Haris Rauf that included two fours and two sixes, one of those maximums clearing the ground as well. He did the same to Afridi in the latter’s second spell, resulting in a 25-run over peppered with three sixes and a four. It was ball-striking at its lethal best and made a mockery of an already paltry total as Australia swept the series 3-0 in style.

Brief scores: Pakistan 117 in 18.1 overs (Babar Azam 41; Aaron Hardie 3-21, Adam Zampa 2-11) lost to Australia 118/3 in 11.2 overs (Marcus Stoinis 61*; Abbas Afridi 1-14) by seven wickets