Australia vs Pakistan: First T20 cricket match result

Match result:

Australia would have dearly loved the persistent showers to remain at bay, but the weather had other ideas. Neither team gets the upper hand going into the 2nd T20I.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan were stranded in no man’s land at the beginning of their innings. But courtesy of an excellent partnership between Babar and Rizwan, the visitors established a sturdy launching pad in the middle overs.

Rain, however, played spoil game at a perfectly wrong time for Pakistan and they couldn’t preserve the momentum after the resumption.

With just under eight runs per over required in the chase, Australia would have fancied their chances of grabbing a lead in the series.

Aaron Finch plundered the Pakistani seam attack with David Warner a mere spectator at the other end, to pile up a hefty amount of runs in the initial overs.

The home side, however, needed to bat at least five overs of their innings but consistent rain delays led to a premature ending to this game.

No result.

Match preview:

Following three domineering outings on home turf against the Islanders, the clinical Aussies will be itching to extend their winning streak when they cross swords with Pakistan, the current reigners of the T20I rankings, in Sydney. Join The Roar for live scores and exclusive coverage of the match, commencing from 2:30pm AEDT on Sunday.

Australia head into the series against Pakistan on the back of a terrific last few days in the field. They have totally outgunned and outsmarted the men from Sri Lanka to kickstart their home summer on a high. The batsmen have found their grooves and the bowling battery has clicked.

David Warner has returned to his backyard in commanding fashion, racking up 217 runs in the three T20Is with a prolific strike rate and without being dismissed even once.

The fluent yet belligerent approach that was on show by the southpaw presents ominous signs for the incoming Greenshirts. Steve Smith was also oozing elegance and class in his first outing with the T20I group since three years.

Glenn Maxwell, whose whirlwind 62 off 28 in the opening game against Sri Lanka that compelled Australia to a mammoth total, will, unfortunately, be missing out on the Pakistan series due to mental health concerns. The left-handed D’Arcy Short has been called up as the Big Show’s replacement.

Although Pakistan presents a far sterner challenge to the Aussies, they have been in an expansive lean run themselves, of late. Despite being the highest-ranked T20I side in the world, their performances in the past eight months or so have been pointing downhill.

Most notably, the recent clean sweep at home at the hands of the same Sri Lankan team that has been hammered by the Australians was shocking, to say the least.

The unexpected defeats have led to large-scale tinkering in the national squad. The hotline, though, is that the ever mercurial Babar Azam has taken hold of the reigns and will be shouldering the T20 captaincy responsibilities for Pakistan.

Under his leadership, Pakistan have gotten off to a roaring start on the tour when they overhauled the CAXI by six wickets in the practice game. The Greenshirts have a bunch of exciting young cricketers who have the ability to turn over the tables in the blink of an eye.

The last time Pakistan featured in a T20I on Australian shores was a decade back in that low-scoring thriller at the ‘G that Australia eventually won. We should be in for another cracker of a game at the SCG on Sunday eve.

Prediction
The first game of a high-voltage series can set the tone for the rest of the series or even the entirety of the tour. Pakistan would somehow need to fight fire with fire and halt Australia’s all-guns-blazing approach.

Otherwise, the form that the likes of David Warner, Aaron Finch and Mitchell Starc are in, it would be an arduous task for Pakistan to stamp their authority right from the word go.

Be sure to join us here on The Roar from 2:30pm (AEDT) on Sunday evening for the live coverage of this series-opener between Australia and Pakistan.

First ball: 2:30pm (AEDT)
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Melbourne
TV: Fox Cricket
Online: Kayo Sports, Cricket Australia Live App
Series: Pakistan tour of Australia 2019/20
Head-to-Head: Played 20, Australia 7, Pakistan 13

Australia Squad
Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Pakistan Squad
Babar Azam (c), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Muhhamad Amir, Muhammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Rizwan (wk), Musa Khan, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, and Wahab Riaz.