AUS v PAK, T20I PREVIEW

After an intense test series and a high scoring entertaining ODI leg, Australia's tour comes to an end with a one off t20i at the Gadaffi stadium in Lahore. After beiong 1 down in the series, Babar's men bounced back to clinch their 1st ever odi series win over Australia since 2002. Many records were broken .Babar Azam became the fastest batter to score 4000 odi runs and 16 100s and won the man of the series. Imam Ul Haq became the fastest to 9odi 100s and Pakistan chased down their highest ever total in Odis.

Australia are mising almost every big star that was a part of the t20 wc squad. To make matters worse, Mitchell Marsh their best playersince 2021 sustained a hip flexor injury. Jos Inglis and Ashton Agar contracted covid. This again opens up a opportunity for BBL 2022 stars Ben McDermott, Ben Dwarshius, Jason Behrendroff and Sean Abbott who scored 577 runs and took 17, 16, 19 wickets respectively.

Aus have won their last 11/12 t20is and whitewashed SL 5-0 in their last series.
Pakistan have also won their last 11/12 t20is and whitewashed Bangladesh and WI in their last 2 series.

Probable XI

Pakistan

Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf.

Australia

Travis Head, Aaron Finch (c), Ben McDermott, Marnus Labuschagne, Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshius/Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa

Venue

Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

Total matches: 17
Matches won batting first: 10
Matches won bowling first: 07
Average 1st Innings total: 161
Average 2nd Innings total: 146
Highest total: 197/5 by PAK vs WXI in 2015

Head To Head

Overall: Pakistan lead 13-10
Batting 1st: Pakistan lead by 9-4
Batting 2nd: Australia lead by 6-4
Last 5 matches: Austtralia lead by 3-2

Match Ups

Babar vs Zampa: 50 /1 at 92 SR
Finch vs Shaheen: 17/2 at 154 SR
Rizwan vs Zampa: 38/0 at 146 SR

Form Update
(last 10 innings)

Key players

Australia

Adam Zampa: If Pak want to put up a formidable total then they have to take chances against Zampa in middle overs. Zampa has taken 31 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 7.02 in last one year and was majority's choice for their Man of the tournament in T20 World Cup.

Ben McDermott: He had a record breaking BBL season with 577 runs – the fourth-highest single season tally in BBL history - at 48.08 average and a strike rate of 153.86, despite missing the first two games of the season. He already made his mark with a 53 on his comeback against SL in t20is and scored a 100 in the 2nd odi last week.

Travis Head: He is back in the t20i side after almost 4 years and most likely will open the innings as he did in ODIs. Travis Head has played with a certain approach and intent in the last 6 months irrespective of the format. He was at his best in the ODI series scoring a 70 ball 100 and followed it up with a 89. Aus would be hoping for a similar approach in the lone t20 match.

Pakistan:

Babar Azam: No one has scored more runs than him after 68 innings. Babar has had an underwhelming past 6 months in the t20i format and coped a lot of criticism for his intent during PSL.

Fakhar Zaman: He was the highest scorer in the PSL this season with 588 runs at an impressive SR of 152. He scored 55 in semifinals when these last 2 sides met in t20 wc.

Mohammad Rizwan: He was the 3rd highest scorer in t20 wc, highest scorer against WI and 2nd highest scorer against Bangladesh in the series followed by and 2nd highest run scorer in the PSL.

Fantasy XI