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All-rounder Marcus Stoinis' marvellous fifty helped Australia to clean-sweep Pakistan in the three-match T20I series on Monday.
Stoinis played an unbeaten knock of 61 runs in just 27 balls which was laced with five boundaries and maximums each. The hosts won the third match of the series by seven wickets and the right-hand batter was awarded the Player of the Match for his performance. Chasing a paltry total of 118 runs, Australia openers Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk began the run chase. Both batters added 16 runs before Short fell to left-arm seamer Shaheen Afridi after scoring just 2 runs in four balls. Following Short's wicket, team skipper Josh Inglis came out to bat along with Fraser-McGurk. At the score of 30, the Australian side lost their second wicket in the fourth over as Fraser-McGurk went back to the pavilion. The right-hand batter scored 18 runs from 11 balls with the help of four fours. Stoinis was the next to bat along with the captain. The Josh Inglis-led side touched 50-run mark in the eighth over of the innings. The third wicket to fall was of Inglis. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 27 runs in 24 balls which included four boundaries. He was dismissed when the team score was 85 in the 10th over. Right-hand batter Tim David came out next in the middle. The hosts crossed the 100-run mark in the 11th over of the innings. Australia went on to win the match on the first ball of the 12th over with seven wickets in hand. Stoinis (61*) and David (78) built an unbeaten partnership of 33 runs off just 10 balls and took their side to victory. For the Men in Green, one wicket each was snapped by Shaheen Afridi (1/43 in 4 overs), Jahandad Khan (1/17 in 3 overs), and Abbas Afridi in (1/14 in 1.2 overs). Earlier in the day, Pakistan's stand-in skipper, Agha Salman won the toss and opted to bat first. Batting first, the visitors were able to score just 117 runs in 18.1 and before being bundled out. Babar Azam (41 runs off 28 balls with four fours), Haseebullah Khan (24 runs from 19 balls with three boundaries), Shaheen Afridi (16 runs in 12 balls with two fours and one six), and Irfan Khan (10 runs off 8 balls with one four) were the main contributors. The pick of the bowlers for Australia was Aaron Hardie who bagged three wickets in his four overs whille conceding 21 runs. He also bowled a maiden over. Two wickets each were taken by Adam Zampa (2/11 in 4 overs) and Spencer Johnson (2/24 in 3.1 overs). One wicket each was taken by Xavier Barlett (1/25 in 3 overs) and Nathan Ellis (1/20 in 3 overs). Australia won the earlier two T20I matches against Pakistan which were played last week. Brief score: Pakistan 117 (Babar Azam 41, Haseebullah Khan 24; Aaron Hardie 3/21) vs Australia 118/3 (Marcus Stoinis 61*, Josh Inglis 27; Abbas Afridi 1/14). (ANI)
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