Rain played spoilsport in the opening T20I in Brisbane, which saw a curtailed game take place as Australia hammered a hapless Pakistan in a seven-over encounter.
Ahead of the second T20I game, here are our match preview and predictions.
Also read: Cricket Australia sponsors 2024 | Pakistan Cricket Board sponsors 2024
While it was a rain-hit game in the opening T20I that saw only seven overs of action per innings, Pakistan will know that their batting line-up just doesn’t fit the current T20 game. It doesn’t have an instant acceleration game, with the likes of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Salman Agha all needing time to get going and being more anchors than aggressors.
The first T20I had Pakistan needing 94 from seven overs; they were 16/5 inside three overs as their batters looked completely out of place. Abbas Afridi and Hassebullah Khan helped Pakistan avoid getting bowled, but the team will know they have to bring different aspects to their batting approach going forward.
The hosts, on the other hand, have an exciting batting unit with an explosive opening pair of Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk, with more firepower down the order in the likes of Josh Inglis, Tim David, Glenn Maxwell, and Marcus Stoinis. The Aussie bowling also looked sharp as they had Pakistan reeling early on, with Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, and Adam Zampa causing all sorts of trouble.
The Sydney Cricket Ground will be a belter, with the bowlers having good assistance—especially the seamers. Count on Australia to seal the three-match series here itself.
Fantasy XI: Babar Azam, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Josh Inglis, Mohammad Rizwan, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Adam Zampa, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah
Venue: Sydney
Winners Prediction: Australia
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