Australia will play the second T20I of the three-match home T20I series against the visiting team Pakistan on Tuesday (5th November) at Manuka Oval (Canberra). It will be a night contest.
They played the series opener on last Sunday (3rd November) at Sydney Cricket Ground (Sydney). The rain interruption forced that game to end without a result. After Pakistan scored 107/5 (15 overs), Australia got the revised target of 119 runs. Before the final rain interruption that washed out that game, Australia managed to score 41/0 in 3.1 overs.
Frustrated Australia are eyeing for the series lead
Australian players weren’t happy after the rain denied their deserving victory. They haven’t lost a T20I this year as Australia have won their last five T20Is before the latest no result.
The top-order batsmen David Warner, Aaron Finch and Steven Smith are in great form. In the last four T20I innings, Warner didn’t lose his wicket.
Meanwhile, the Australian bowlers are also in very good form. In overall, this Australian team is a very balanced side, despite Glenn Maxwell is not in this squad.
Pakistan players are not justifying the top-most position in T20I cricket
The no.1-ranked T20I side Pakistan are currently struggling in this format. Before the lucky no result in Sydney T20I, Pakistan suffered four consecutive defeats, including three against inexperienced Sri Lanka at home in last month.
The Pakistan players are not in the good form at present. Meanwhile, it is the first series as a captain for the no.1-ranked T20I batsman Babar Azam.
Though the Pakistan bowling line-up is full of talent, most of the bowlers are currently not consistent in international cricket. Moreover, the Pakistan batting is far away from dependable. Pakistan is also missing some good experienced T20I players in this series.
Stats Preview:
Australia
i) Australian captain Aaron Finch (925 runs) is 75 runs away to complete his 1,000 T20I runs as a captain. He will be first Australian captain and fifth overall captain to score 1,000 T20I runs.
ii) Leg-spinner Adam Zampa (14 wickets) needs to pick up three more T20I wickets at home to become the most T20I wicket-taker at home as an Australian bowler. While Zampa has taken the equal number of wickets of the pacer Andrew Tye (14 T20I wickets at home), only the left-arm pacer James Faulkner is ahead of them in this list.
iii) Left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc has taken 37 T20I wickets. At present, Starc is the joint third most T20I wicket-taker for Australia as the right-arm pacer Andrew Tye also scalped 37 T20I wickets. Starc is two wickets away to become the second most T20I wicket-taker for Australia. By taking two T20I wickets, Starc will surpass the present second most T20I wicket-taker for Australia – Mitchell Johnson (38 T20I wickets). However, Shane Watson is on the top of this list with 48 T20I wickets.
Pakistan
i) Pakistan leg-spinner Shadab Khan (46 wickets) is four wickets away to complete his 50 T20I wickets. He will be the seventh Pakistan bowler and fourth Pakistan spinner to take 50 T20I wickets.
Where to watch:
In India, Sony Six network will broadcast it live on Tuesday (1st November) from 01:40 PM (13:40).