After a stunning chase of New Zealand against England, we witnessed another close thriller between Pakistan and Australia tonight. While the Kiwis held their nerves last night and chased the target, it was the Aussies who repeated the same feat tonight. Now, both New Zealand and Australia will take on each other in the final on Sunday.
Chasing a big total of 177 runs is never an easy task in Dubai. We have seen how the pitches troubled the batters in the IPL and the World Cup. The dew factor was the only advantage for Australians. However, Pakistan got an early breakthrough by scalping the wicket of the Aussie captain Aaron Finch right in the first over. But David Warner (49) and Mitchell Marsh (28) have settled the innings by making a partnership of 51 runs for the second wicket. Once Marsh departed, Warner took the charge. But he got out in the 11th over. Even Smith and Maxwell got dismissed for single-digit scores, all thanks to Shadab Khan’s brilliant spell (4/26).
Australia was in deep trouble. That’s when Marcus Stoinis (40*) and Matthew Wade (41*) took responsibility and made sure not to lose another wicket. They played slow until the 17th over and then unleashed their arms. When they needed 22 runs off the last two overs, Matthew Wade smashed all runs in the 19th over bowled by Shaheen Afridi and finished the game in the penultimate over. As a result, Australia scored 177/5 in 19 overs.
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After they lost the toss and was asked to bat first, Pakistan batters took the opportunity to post a big total on the scoreboard. They executed their plans so well and thus, they got good partnerships after every wicket. While opener Babar Azam (39) and Mohammed Rizwan (67) made a partnership of 71 runs for the first wicket, Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman (55*) have made a partnership of 72 runs for the second wicket. In the process, both of them have scored their respective half-centuries. The Australian bowlers came back strong in the death overs and scalped the wickets of Asif Ali and Shoaib Malik in quick time and restricted Pakistan in scoring a humongous total. However, the Pak batters managed to post a high total of 176/4 by the end of 20 overs.
The final will be held in Dubai on November 14.
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