Australia beat Pakistan in 2nd T20I, seal series: Key stats
Australia overcame Pakistan in the 2nd T20I held at Sydney Cricket Ground. Batting first, the Aussies managed 147/9 in 20 overs. Matthew Short (32) and Aaron Hardie (28) did well. For Pakistan, Haris Rauf claimed 4/23. In response, Usman Khan's half-century and Irfan Khan's blitz weren't enough as the visitors lost by 13 runs. Australia have a 2-0 lead in the 3-match series.
Summary of the contest at SCG
Aussie openers added 52 runs for the first wicket before Rauf handed Pakistan the breakthrough. From 52/0, the hosts were reduced to 56/3. A 30-run stand followed before Pakistan kept taking wickets as Australia finally managed 147/9. Pakistan were reduced to 44/4 before a 56-run stand was added. Pakistan lost their way thereafter and suffered a collapse. Spencer Johnson claimed 5/26 to rattle Pakistan.
A solid four-fer on offer for Rauf
Australia got off to a fast start before dismissed the dangerous Jake Fraser-McGurk (20) in the 4th over with a pacy short ball. In the same over, he sent back Josh Inglis (0). In the 15th over, Rauf got Tim David (18), who tried to clobber the ball across the line but failed. In the 19th over, he dismissed Xavier Bartlett (5).
Rauf claims his 7th four-wicket haul in T20s
Rauf's splendid four-fer sees him race to 281 wickets in T20s. As per ESPNcricinfo, Rauf averages 22.18 (ER: 8.23) from 211 matches. He picked his 7th four-wicket haul. For Pakistan, Rauf now owns 107 scalps from 74 matches at just 20.36. He claimed his 4th four-fer. In four matches versus Australia, Rauf has six scalps at 18.33.
Abbas Afridi claims 3/17 from his 4 overs
Pakistan pacer Abbas Afridi did well, taking 3/17 from his 4 overs. Abbas now owns 85 scalps in the 20-over format at just 19.52. Meanwhile, 21 of his scalps have come for Pakistan from 12 matches at 15.28.
Johnson attains these feats with a fifer
Australia's Johnson managed 5/26 from his 4 overs. He is now the 5th Aussie to take a five-wicket haul in T20Is. He is also the 2nd Australian pacer to do so after James Faulkner (vs PAK, Mohali, 2016). As per Cricbuzz, Spencer is the 4th bowler to take a fifer versus Pakistan after South Africa's Dwaine Pretorius, New Zealand's Tim Southee and Australia's Faulkner.
Maiden fifer for Johnson in T20s
Johnson now owns 12 wickets from 7 matches for the Aussies at 17.91. Overall in the 20-over format, the pacer has amassed 69 scalps at 22.63. He claimed his maiden fifer.
Usman Khan slams 52
Usman slammed 52 from 38 balls. His knock had four fours and a six. In T20s, Usman now owns 1,380 runs, averaging 33.65. He has slammed five fifties (100s: 4). Notably, he has 173 runs for Pakistan at 17.30 from 12 matches (11 innings). He hit his maiden fifty for his nation.
A solid fifer on offer for Johnson
Sahibzada Farhan was Johnson's maiden scalp. A short ball saw Farhan look to get on top of the ball but he found the man at mid-wicket. In the 10th over, he got Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan with a length delivery. Agha Salman departed in the very next ball, getting an edge. In the 16th over, Johnson dismissed half-centurion Usman Khan and Abbas Afridi.
