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Australia will look to finish the first leg of matches at the top of the points table with a crushing win over Zimbabwe when the two teams meet in Harare in the third game of the T20 tri-series. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 6pm (AEST).
If someone just read out the scores without mentioning the teams involved in the previous game, chances are one would have guessed that one of those teams was Zimbabwe. The losing team, that is.
For one, Zimbabwe have a very inexperienced side in the absence of their bigwigs but more importantly, the result of the previous did little to justify Pakistan’s top ranking in the T20 format.
Sure it was a bouncy, pace-filled pitch at Harare. And sure, Pakistan might not have had an idea of that till they actually went out to bat on it.
Instead, it’s full credit to Australia who fired their opponents out in a jiffy through a concerted bowling and batting effort of supreme pedigree.
Billy Stanlake took advantage of the surprising bounce on offer from the Harare pitch which has usually helped spin in the white-ball format and sent back the top four Pakistan in a fiery spell of four overs he bowled in one go. By the time he was done with his bowling, Pakistan had slumped to 4 for 24 and despite a bit of a fight from the lower-order, they ended up with just 116.
In response, if Pakistan thought they could make a match out of it, the in-form Aussie captain Aaron Finch left them gasping in awe at his stroke-play.
He smashed a 33-ball 68 that included six sixes and four boundaries and with D’Arcy Short and Travis Head chipping in, Australia won it in the 11th over, to relegate Pakistan to their worst defeat in this format in terms of balls remaining.
Zimbabwe might not be much of a match here given the loss of their key players. Payment issues have left them without quality and their defeat in the first game to Pakistan underlined this to a great extent.
Pakistan piled up 182 with only Kyle Jarvis and Tendai Chisoro pulling the run-rate back, but even then, Jarvis suffered an injury and might not feature in this game. When they batted, Zimbabwe managed just 108 – not too different from what Pakistan did against Australia – and fell to a 74-run loss.
Prediction
Australia to make it two wins in a row with a thumping victory over an underwhelming Zimbabwe.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this match in Harare from 6pm (AEST) and don’t forget to drop a comment in the section below.
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