All-round Ayub hands Pakistan comfortable win

An all-round performance from Saim Ayub led Pakistan to a clinical 22-run win over Australia. Ayub's 74-run partnership with Salman Agha, in which Agha contributed 39 off 27, set Pakistan up for a big total in the first half of the innings. While the pair's dismissal led to Australia pulling the innings back, with Adam Zampa and Xavier Bartlett taking two wickets each, Pakistan had built up enough of a buffer to keep the run rate respectable.

Some of the more seasoned players struggled to get over poor runs of form. Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam struggled notably to get their innings off the ground, with Babar scoring 14 off his first 15 balls and ultimately falling for 24 in 20. Zaman's battles were even more pronounced, scratching around for 16 poorly timed balls and managing 10, but a late cameo from Usman Khan propelled Pakistan to 168.

For a fresh-faced Australian side, captain Travis Head's performance was always likely to have an outsized role in the ultimate outcome. He began brightly with a first-over six, but a brief, entertaining knock ended on 23 when Ayub had him hole out to Babar, who made up for his batting woes with three excellent catches in the deep.

With Ayub having already removed Matt Short, Pakistan needed to only bear the passing storm of Matt Renshaw and Cameron Green's 40-run partnership, whose end also effectively heralded the conclusion of Australia's most muscular challenges. The rest of the innings folded fairly tamely, and by the time Salman Mirza closed out the final over, the outcome was no longer in doubt.

Shrugging off the soft first-ball dismissal of Sahibzada Farhan, Ayub and Agha made effective use of the powerplay. Ayub made his intentions plain by whipping his first ball towards midwicket for six. Each of the first three overs saw a six struck as Ayub combined crisp timing with focused aggression, with Salman playing a competent supporting hand at the other end. The 50-run stand was brought up in 32 balls as Pakistan put on 56 in the powerplay - the joint highest in T20Is for Pakistan against Australia.

Crucially, there was no deceleration as the field spread out, Agha making the point with a six off the second ball post powerplay, and 29 runs coming in the three overs after the sixth. By the time the pair were dismissed, Ayub had struck 40 in 22, while Pakistan sped up to 85 in nine overs.

As the senior statesman in an Australian attack that was particularly wet behind the ears, it fell to Zampa to rein Pakistan in. The spinner delivered with predictable consistency, deploying the full arsenal of his variations to break the pair's rhythm. Off his fourth ball, Ayub failed to get enough purchase on a muscled pull down the ground, holing out to long-on. It was a fielder Pakistan found often, with five catches taken at that position.

It fell to Zampa to remove Agha, too, when he lit up the Pakistan captain's eyes with a looping ball on the stumps, off which Agha found elevation but not distance. Taken off for a few overs, Zampa came back to snare a struggling Babar when he darted one through and trapped him in front as the batter looked to reverse-sweep. He made it four in four overs with a sensational 18th over, in which he conceded three runs and sent Usman Khan on his way. By the time his spell was done, Zampa had 4 for 24, and Pakistan's run rate had slipped to 8.27.

Australia were well on their way in the first seven overs of the chase, speeding along to 68 with Green and Renshaw timing the ball cleanly and keeping the asking rate in check. It was Abrar Ahmed's introduction that began the turnaround, even if what started it had little to do with him. Renshaw nudged the first ball to midwicket and set off for a sharp single, but Green stayed rooted to the spot. Agha dived sharply to intercept, and it wasn't until he had made it more than halfway through that Renshaw realised the peril, by which time it was much too late.

Two balls later, Abrar had his first wicket when he skidded one through to Cooper Connolly that turned back in and knocked back his stumps. It set Australia off on an irrevocable slide as the runs dried up and Pakistan continued to puncture their way through the line-up. Six wickets fell for 44 runs with Abrar playing a similarly devastating role as his Australian wristspinning counterpart, finishing with 2 for 10 in his four.