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Pakistan thrashed Australia by 90 runs in the second T20I of the three-match series at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Saturday.
With this dominating victory, the Men in Green took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ongoing T20I series. Skipper Salman Ali Agha was named Player of the Match for his superb half-century. Batting first, Pakistan posted a challenging score of 198/5 in 20 overs with Agha's top-score of 76 off 40 balls, stuffed with eight fours and four towering sixes. Wicketkeeper-batter Usman Khan made 53 off 36 deliveries, with four boundaries and two sixes. For Australia, Xavier Bartlett (1/52), Matthew Kuhnemann (1/40), Cooper Connolly (1/30), Sean Abbott (1/33), and Adam Zampa (1/27) scalped one-wicket apiece. Chasing 199, Australia were bundled out for 108 in 15.4 overs after a fantastic bowling performance by Pakistan. Saim Ayub (1/32), Abrar Ahmed (3/14), Mohammad Nawaz (1/11), Shadab Khan (3/26), and Usman Tariq (2/16) were among the wicket-takers. For Australia, Cameron Green (35 off 20 balls, with one four and two sixes) was the top-scorer. During the post-match presentation, losing skipper Mitchell Marsh said, "Well done to Pakistan, hopefully we turn around tomorrow. As I said, the series was still alive before today; Pakistan outplayed us. Hopefully, we can improve and come back tomorrow. They put us under great pressure in the power play; it was probably a 160-170 wicket. We have got experienced guys who know that partnerships are really important in run-chases. We were not able to do that today. So some really good lessons." After winning the Player of the Match award, captain Salman Agha said, "It has to be a perfect game. We batted well in the powerplay and middle and we were outstanding with the ball. Fielding was outstanding. I can easily say it was a perfect game for us and we want to replicate it tomorrow. That's why I PRO myself No. 3: I know I can play spin well and intend to do the same in Sri Lanka. (On Usman Khan's knock) We know he is a very good player of spin bowling, probably the best player in our team against spin. We knew his ability and we know it's going to come soon. Hope he plays in the same way. We want to continue to play in the same way and I want the same from my team.... forget the 2-0 and come again (play in the same fashion). Hopefully we can come and entertain the Lahore crowd again tomorrow." The last match of the series will be played in Lahore on February 1. (ANI)
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