Pakistan came out all guns blazing and thrashed Australia by 111 runs to win the series 3-0. Pakistan outplayed Australia in all facets of the game and deserves the win as Australia were never really in the contest after the interval. Pakistan batted first and courtesy of fifties from Saim Ayub and an unbeaten fifty from Babar Azam apart from strong finishes from Shadab Khan and Khawaja Nafay made sure that Pakistan post a humongous 207/6 in 20 overs.
Chasing a record breaking 208 for the win, Australia wilted under pressure and were bowled out for 96 in 16.5 overs with Adam Zampa being retired hurt due to groin injury. Mohammad Nawaz picked up a memorable 5-wicket haul while Shaheen Afridi gave a great opening burst picking up 2 wickets. The rest of the bowlers chipped in Australia were blown away yet again to lose the series 3-0.
All-round batting performance led by Saim Ayub and Babar Azam powers Pakistan to 207/6
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub opened the batting for Pakistan while Matthew Kuhnemann started the proceedings for Australia. The opening duo got off to a shaky start as they could put 14 runs for the first wicket with Fakhar scoring the bulk of the runs. They put on 14 inside 2 overs before Zaman fell for 10 off 7 balls with 2 fours to his name to Matthew Short. Captain Salman Ali Agha came out to bat next.
Ayub looked fluent while Salman was a mere spectator at the other end. The duo of Ayub and Salman added 20 more runs to the tally before the captain fell for 5 off 3 balls with one boundary to his name to Ben Dwarshuis. Pakistan were 2 down inside 4 overs as Babar Azam joined Saim Ayub in the middle. From hereon, it was the Azam-Ayub show as they started building a partnership of note. They played through the rest of the powerplay as Pakistan reached 55/2 in 6 overs.
The duo upped the ante a little bit with Ayub playing the aggressor role and Azam playing second fiddle but played his part no doubt. They took the score from 34 to over a 100 runs and played into the second half of the innings. The duo of Ayub and Babar put on 69 important runs for the 3rd wicket off 45 balls before Ayub who completed his half-century fell for 56 off 37 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Matthew Kuhnemann. Keeper batter Khawaja Nafay came out to bat next.
Nafay was off the blocks quickly as the plan was clear, Babar would play through the innings while the others play around him and play the role of aggressor. Nafay played some lovely shots as the duo put on 28 for the 4th wicket before Nafay fell for 21 off 12 balls with one four and two sixes to his name to Cooper Connolly. Shadab Khan came to the crease with Pakistan at 131/4 in 14 overs.
What followed was the Shadab Khan show as Babar was dropping anchor and held one end up. But it was Shadab who gave the impetus to the innings and played a blinder of a knock. Shadab hit some lusty blows over the fence and looked in total control of proceedings and deserved a half-century. The duo put on 57 for the 5th wicket in which Shadab scored 46 off 19 balls. The partnership was worth 57 runs off 28 balls before Shadab fell for 46 off 19 balls with 2 fours and 5 sixes to his name to Dwarshuis. Mohammad Nawaz came out to bat next with 8 balls left in the innings.
Nawaz did not last too long as 6 more runs were added to the score before Nawaz fell for 5 off 4 balls with one boundary to his name to Cameron Green. Faheem Ashraf came out to bat next with 4 balls left. Babar reached his fifty in 36 balls. Faheem hit two important boundaries at the end as Pakistan raced past the 200-run mark for the first time against Australia in T20Is.
Babar remained unbeaten on 50 off 36 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name while Faheem remained unbeaten on 10 off 4 balls with 2 fours to his name as Pakistan finished with massive 207/6 in 20 overs. 4 extras given by the fielding side.
It was another hard day for the Australian bowlers. Ben Dwarshuis back in the side was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/39 in 4 overs. Matthew Kuhnemann bowled well for his 1/27 in 4 overs. Matthew Short finished with 1/31 in 3 overs. Cooper Connolly finished with 1/47 in 4 overs. Cameron Green finished with 1/43 in 3 overs. Adam Zampa had a rare off day as he finished with 0/20 in 2 overs. This meant Australia needed a record chase of 208 runs to avoid a 3-0 whitewash.
Mohammad Nawaz’s 5-wicket haul skittles Australia out for 96 in 16.5 overs for a massive win for Pakistan
Chasing 208 for the win, captain Mitchell Marsh came out to open the batting with Matthew Short while Shaheen Afridi had ball in hand for Pakistan. Afridi made a perfect start as the opening duo could add 2 runs for the first wicket before Marsh the captain fell for 1 off 3 balls cleaned up by Afridi. Cameron Green came out to bat next. Another two runs were added to the score before Short fell for 2 off 4 balls to Mohammad Nawaz. Matt Renshaw came out to bat next.
Green and Renshaw tried to rebuild things for Australia as they added 12 runs to the score before Renshaw fell for 1 off 6 balls clean bowled by Afridi yet again. Marcus Stoinis came out to join Green in the middle with Australia at 16/3 in 2.5 overs. The duo tried to forge some sort of partnership to rescue Australia as the powerplay score was 38/3 in 6 overs chasing 208 for the Aussies.
They played through the initial part of the middle phase and tried to give Australia hope. The duo batted at a decent pace and added 44 runs for the 4th wicket before Stoinis fell for 23 off 22 balls with 3 fours to his name as he was cleaned up by Nawaz. Josh Philippe came out to bat next. Just three runs were added to the score before Cameron Green the other set batter fell for 22 off 24 balls with 2 fours to his name as he was cleaned up by Nawaz. Australia were now 63/5 in 10 overs at the halfway stage of the chase.
Mitchell Owen came out to bat to join Philippe at the crease as the Aussies were up against it now. The duo of Owen and Philippe tried to delay the inevitable and show resistance as well. They added 19 runs for the 6th wicket before Philippe fell for 14 off 15 balls with one four to his name to Nawaz. Cooper Connolly came out to bat next. Nawaz had two in the over as Connolly went for a silver duck to Nawaz. Ben Dwarshuis came out to bat next.
Just 4 runs were added to the score before Owen fell for 8 off 10 balls with one boundary to his name as he was LBW to Abrar Ahmed. Matthew Kuhnemann came out to bat with the score at 86/8 in 14.4 overs. Dwarshuis and Kuhnemann added 10 more runs to the score before Kuhnemann fell for 5 off 8 balls to Naseem Shah. Adam Zampa had a groin injury and did not come out to bat and so Australia’s innings folded at 96 in 16.5 overs with 13 extras given by the fielding side as Dwarshuis remained unbeaten on 7 off 8 balls.
Pakistan had another field day with ball in hand. Mohammad Nawaz was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 5/18 in 4 overs. Shaheen Afridi set the tone at the top with figures of 2/16 in 3 overs. Abrar Ahmed finished with 1/18 in 3 overs. Naseem Shah finished with 1/17 in 2.5 overs. Shadab Khan bowled 3 overs for 14 runs. Faheem Ashraf bowled an over for 6 runs. So, Pakistan thrash Australia by 111 runs and clean sweep the series 3-0. Mohammad Nawaz was awarded the Player of the Match while captain Salman Ali Agha was adjudged the Player of the Series.
So, with this the Pakistan vs Australia T20I series came to an end with Pakistan clean sweeping Australia 3-0. Both teams will head to Sri Lanka for the T20 World Cup 2026 as all their matches are in Sri Lanka for the first phase of the tournament. In Pakistan’s case, all matches while Australia play the group stage in Sri Lanka. A fascinating tournament awaits us all.
Also Read: PAK vs AUS: Salman Ali Agha’s Unit Wallops Australia & Seals Series