Steve Smith brilliance takes Australia to a comfortable 7 wicket win in the 2nd T20I

-

Thanks to a brilliance by Steve Smith, Australia cruised to a 7 wicket win in the 2nd T20I match played at Manuka Oval, Canberra on Tuesday.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and decided to bat first. Babar Azam continued from where he left in the 1st T20I. Pat Cummins got the breakthrough dismissing the out of form Fakhar Zaman for 2. Haris Sohail fell to bad stroke which put Babar Azam under pressure. At the end of 6 overs, Pakistan were struggling at 32 for 2.

After the power play overs, Rizwan and Azam could not capitalize which made life tough for the visitors. As things looked rosy for Pakistan, Ashton Agar dismissed Rizwan for 14 off 16 balls. Rizwan and Babar added 33 runs for the 3rd wicket. Asif Ali failed to rise occasion as he got out for 4. Iftikhar Ahmed came to the crease and took time to settle along with Babar Azam.

Pakistani captain Babar Azam reached his fifty off 38 balls and was run out while attempting the 2nd run with a direct throw from David Warner. Iftikhar took the attack to Kane Richardson scoring 22 runs in the 19th over and reached his fifty off 29 balls. Pakistan posted 150 for 6 in 20 overs.

Chasing 151 runs to win, David Warner looked in crackling form with aggressive intent. Mohammed Aamir got the breakthrough for Pakistan getting the wicket of Warner for 20 off 11 balls. Warner and Finch added 30 runs in just 3 overs. Mohammad Irfan dismissed Australian captain Aaron Finch to give hopes of Pakistan winning the match. At the end of 6 overs, Australia were 48 for 2.
Steve Smith looked in sensational touch and made the look easy on a good batting pitch. Ben McDermott gave good support to Smith. Smith created pressure right from word go and made sure that Australia never lost grip to the chase. Imad Wasim got the wicket of Ben McDermott for 21 off 22 balls. Smith and McDermott added 58 runs for the 3rd wicket.

Smith continued to maintain the momentum and remained not out on a superb 80 off 51 balls. Ashton Turner hit the winning runs. Smith and Turner added unbeaten 45 runs for the 4th wicket. Australia won the match by 7 wickets with 9 balls to spare.

Australia 151 for 3 in 18.3 overs (Steve Smith 80*, Mohammad Irfan 1/27) beat Pakistan 150 for 6 in 20 overs ( Iftikhar Ahmed 62*, Babar Azam 50, Ashton 2/23) by 7 wickets.
For his brilliant 80*, Smith was awarded the man of the match. Australia takes a 1-0 lead in the 3 match T20I series. The third and final T20I match will be played at Perth on 8th November.

Image result for Smith 80 against Pakistan
Steve Smith 80* leads Australia to a comfortable 7 wicket win over Pakistan 

Location: Bangalore

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WPL 2025 Match 1: Top 3 Performers Between RCB And GG

-
Image
  Royal Challengers Bengaluru registered a historic win over Gujarat Giants in the opening match of WPL 2025 played at Kotambi Stadium, Vadodara on 14 th February. RCB captain Smriti Mandhana won the toss and decided to field first. Ash Gardner’s explosive knock, Beth Mooney’s half-century, Deandra Dottin’s quickfire knock helped Gujarat Giants post 201 for 5 in their 20 overs. In reply, Ellyse Perry looked impressive with a half-century. Richa Ghosh played a blinder of a knock along with Kanika Ahuja’s brilliance helping the defending Champions RCB chase down this target easily by 6 wickets with 9 balls to spare. The pitch at Vadodara was a belter with top-quality performances from both sides in the opening match of the season. Here we look at the top 3 performers in the opening match of the WPL 2025 between RCB and Gujarat Giants. 1.        Ash Gardner Gujarat Giants’ newly appointed captain Ash Gardner led from the front with the bat and ball al...
Read more

Indonesia Open 2025: Satwik/Chirag Enter Quarters, Others Crash Out

-
Image
  The men’s doubles pairing of Satwik/Chirag entered the quarterfinals while other 3 Indians lost in the 2 nd round of the Super 1000 Indonesia Open played at Jakarta on 5 th June 2025. Satwik/Chirag Shetty edged past R Kjaer and Sogaard of Denmark in three games. The first game began with both pairs fighting for each point. Kjaer and Sogaard displayed great service skills. Satwik/Chirag fought back strongly to make a comeback. At the mid-game break, Danish pair led 11-10. After the break, Kjaer and Sogaard played brilliant badminton winning the first game by 21-16. The second game also began well for both pairs. Satwik/Chirag made a strong comeback whenever Kjaer and Sogaard look to take the game away. At the mid-game break, Danish pair again took a 11-10 lead. After the interval, Satwik/Chirag fought back strongly to level the scores and then won it by 21-18 to force into the decider. It was a closely fought affair in the third game as both pairs fought for each point. At...
Read more

Malaysia Open 2025 Day 3: Disappointing Outing For Indian Shuttlers

-
Image
  The Indian shuttlers had a disappointing outing as only one of them made it into the quarterfinals of the Super 1000 Malaysia Open 2025 played at Axiata Arena, Kuala Lumpur on 9 th January. HS Prannoy, women’s doubles pair of Tressa Jolly suffered narrow losses while Bansod, mixed doubles pair of Crasto/Kapila, and other pair lost in a one-sided affair. Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand suffered a heartbreaking loss to Jia Ya Fan and Zhang of China in three thrilling games. The Indian pair struggled in the initial phases of the first game trailing by 3-6 before taking 7 points in succession to put the pressure back on the Chinese pair. At the mid-game interval, the Indians had an 11-7 lead. After the break, Jolly and Gopichand showed domination with smashes and drop shots keeping consistent pressure on the Chinese pair before winning the first game at 21-15. The second game began well with Jolly and Gopichand taking a decent lead in the initial phases. Ji and Zhang showed g...
Read more