Cricket: Pakistan looks to end Australian Jinx, First T20 at Edgbaston preview
The much awaited Pakistan tour of England is finally getting underway. But Pakistan will be facing Australia first, their bogey team. The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Green-c60723 shirts have not been able to beat Australia in any form of the game for a while now. Who can forget the epic T20 World Cup semi-final between these 2 teams which Pakistan looked to have had in the bag till the final over when Michel Hussey took the match away from right under their noses? On their recent tour of Australia, Pakistan lost all 3 test matches, 5 ODIs, and 1 T20.
Now Pakistan plays Australia in 2 T-20s that will be followed by 2 test matches. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 in the final match. So both teams come into the two match series with having lost their last 2 trophies but with sizeable wins in the final match.
The Pakistan team is a new look one. Under Shahid Afridi the team has looked fresh and united. The speedster Shoaib Akhtar is also back in the side but he looked short on match fitness in the Asia cup. Maybe the motivation of finally getting a win against Australia and out gunning his counterpart Shaun Tait would motivate the 32 year old fast bowler to once again bring something special to the table. On the other hand http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 with his 2 hundreds in Asia Cup has proven that he likes more responsibility. He played pretty much his usual aggressive brand of cricket but with a touch of responsibility, which prompted many to wonder why he was not made captain 10 years ago. He too would have the motivation of finally beating the Aussies after 12 straight losses to the men from down under in all 3 formats of the game.
Looking at the T-20 form of both teams, it’s quite odd to note that Pakistan, the number one team in T-20 cricket, has only won 1 of its last 5 matches. Australia has lost one from the same number of matches.
Australia’s new ball attack comprising of Tait and Nannes is sure to give any batsman nightmares. The left and right arm combination is lethal with the new ball, and both can generate pace of more than 90 miles on a consistent basis. Both of them have been tagged as T-20 bowlers, but Tait did make his way back into the ODI team and made an instant impact in the final 2 ODIs that Australia won against England. Nannes has not played since the T-20 World Cup final that Australia lost to England, but has been applying his trade for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Nottinghamshire-c826 in T-20s.
From Pakistan Umar Akmal has to be the man to watch out for. The youngster is at the start of his career but has already got the respect of the Aussies. One third of his international cricket has been played against Australia. He has impressed one and all with his free flowing strokes and ability to hit big at will. In his last match against Australia, the semi final of the T-20 World Cup, he looked at ease against a dangerous Australian bowling line up and smashed a brilliant 50.
Ryan Harris will not be available as he is suffering from a knee injury. Australia’s T-20 captain sat out the 5th ODI against England following some back problems, but he is expected to be back for the match against Pakistan.
James Hopes and Steve O'Keefe are likely to be sidelined. Looking back at the team that played against Pakistan in the T-20 semi final, the only change would be Tim Paine who has replaced Brad Haddin.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 is the number one ranked team in T-20 internationals. One look at their squad does justice to their number 1 ranking. Hopefully they will be able to break the Australian jinx.
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