ICC World T20 2014: Spinners take Pakistan to victory

Glenn Maxwell’s blitz wasn’t enough to guide Australia to a win

Aaron Finch’s 65 went in vain as Pakistan pulled-off a thrilling 16-run win over Australia in the second match of Group 2 at Dhaka. Pakistan posted an imposing 191 runs on a good batting surface, and subsequently their spinners claimed wickets at regular intervals which helped Pakistan to cross the line.

Chasing 192 for victory, Australia got off to worst possible start as they lost David Warner and Shane Watson in the first over itself. Subsequently Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell had a significant task on hand. They had to steady the ship before going for big shots. They re-constructed the innings for Australia and attacked the Pakistan bowlers without hesitation.

At the time when Maxwell joined Finch, one would have not expected the duo to attack Pakistan right from word go. But they had other ideas. They showed no signs of weakness against the spinners as they hammered them all over the park. They rose to 57 runs for the loss of two wickets in the first six overs. From there on, Australia gathered the momentum and Pakistan had no chance of coming back into the match.

They needed to remove Maxwell quickly. However, Maxwell played a magical innings and joined the list of fastest fifty in T20 cricket. He reached his fifty of 18 balls and it looked as if Australia were going to pull-off an improbable win at Dhaka.

At the end of the 11^th over, Australia were in comfortable position at 122/2 further needing 70 runs in 54 balls. Maxwell and Finch were at the crease. Afridi was asked to bowl his second over. He was getting turn off the surface and claimed the wicket of Maxwell for 74. Bailey soon consolidated the situation, but didn’t last long enough as he was also dismissed by Shahid Afridi in the 15^th over to leave Australia on the brink at 146 for the loss of four wickets.

After the wicket of Bailey, Australia were heavily reliant on Brad Hodge to do the job. Hodge has proven to be a great finisher in T20 format and the situation he came into bat was ideal. However, Hodge was hugely troubled by Pakistan spinners and was dismissed for only two. From there on, Australia never got close to the target and finally ended up losing by 16-run margin.

Australia’s captain George Bailey would be disappointed with his bowler’s effort as they allowed Pakistan to pile 190 runs after having them on the ropes at 25 for 2 wickets. Doug Bollinger removed Ahmed Shehzad for 5 and Hafeez was dismissed by Watson for 13.

From there on, Umar Akmal and Kamran Akmal put on 96 runs for third wicket in 51 balls which helped Pakistan recover from a stringy position. Umar Akmal, who looked in sublime form, scored 94 and helped Pakistan post 191 runs off 20 overs which proved too much for Australia on a good batting wicket.

With the defeat, Australia’s weakness against spin is now well-established. They are placed under a group which has variety of spinners and they’ll need to come out with effective strategy to tackle spinners in forthcoming games.