Mohammad Aamer leads Pakistan to T20 series win against Australia
Pakistan looked like a confident side as they outclassed Australia for second time in a row. Their T20 form looked superb and Shahid Khan Afridi would be more than happy to take this momentum in the upcoming series against the Aussies. The last victory brought an end to the painful losing streak of 12 matches in all formats of the game. And with a stellar performance from Mohammad Aamer, it is now Australia, who is on losing end for successive second time.
Pakistan came into second match with the same confidence and determination that became the basis for their victory in the first T20 match. Even the conditions were identical to that of the first match. With thousands of supporters cheering for Pakistan, it was not surprising to see that the result was also the same. The Pakistani batsman led by the Akmal brothers once again gave a solid target of 163 runs to chase. The Australians looked tired as they once again failed to build the tempo for a successful run chase. The last Aussie pair was left with the job to finish the match which they failed despite a six from Dirk Nannes in the final over.
Aamer was instrumental as he made crucial runs in the dying overs of the Pakistani innings and later stuck with his bowling as he removed Australia’s best batsmen at the top. Despite Aamer’s heroics, it was a team effort which culminated in a Pakistani victory. Afridi made a quick-fire 18 before grabbing two wickets with his bowling. The ever-reliable Akmal brothers and Salman Butt gave a solid batting performance to build a strong total. Shoaib Akhtar and Saeed Ajmal bowled tightly as they gave no room for the Australian batsmen.
Shoaib Akhtar aka the Rawalpindi Express looked jaded in the opening game but came back fresh into the second match as he bowled with speed and accuracy. Even in a match that featured the likes of speedsters such as Tait and Nannes, Akhtar was unambiguously the fastest out of all of them. He opened the bowling for Pakistan with a couple of sizzling bouncers before Michael Clarke decided to take him head on. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326, so it was up to Clarke to open the batting for the visitors. The Australian T20 captain batted clinically as he found gaps with his timed drives and chips. He made 30 runs from 17 balls before Aamer remove him in style. Akhtar removed Tim Paine as he skewed an ugly swipe to mid-off. Aamer looked in blistering form as he removed David Warner for 1 and ended the match with figures of 3 for 27.
James Hopes and Michael Hussey provided Australia with some solid foundation in the middle overs but they failed to guide their team to victory. They worked the ball around the park during the middle overs but failed to find the boundaries on regular intervals. As a consequence, too much was left for the last overs. Earlier, Australia gave an unlikely performance as they allowed the Pakistani batsmen to post a big total for the second consecutive time. Aamer provided the entertainment for the massive Pakistani crowd at Edgbaston as he made a quick-fire 20 which included a pair of sixes off newcomer Steven O’Keefe and David Hussey. O’Keefe bowled well in his first match as he finished the match with 3 for 29.
Afridi and Umar Akmal provided a crucial partnership for Pakistan as they contributed 30 runs in an extremely difficult situation for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755. Afridi’s huge six off Shaun Tait was cheered by a jam-packed Edgbaston crowd. Earlier Pakistan’s openers Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt provided Pakistan with great start as their opening stand consisted of 61 runs. For Australia, Nannes was the most impressive bowlers for Australia as he took 3 for 30.
Pakistan will be entering the Test series with lot of confidence after their professional and quality display in the two T20 matches against Australia. On the other hand, Australia has suffered their fifth loss in seven matches since their arrival in England. They need to quickly turn things around if they want to change their fortunes in the upcoming Test series.
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