Struggling Australia look to bounce back against buoyant Pakistan for level

After being hammered in the first T20I, Michael Clarke would be searching for answers from his men as the bowling failed to capitalize on a terrific start and the batting flopped, while Afridi would be looking for a 2-0 whitewash.

Australia looked to be getting things right on track after their disappointing ODI series against England with wins in the final two games but in the first T20I against Pakistan, everything seemed to rewind itself. The bowlers got early break-throughs, had Pakistan on the mat at 47/4 but had no answer to Umar Akmal’s counter-attack, allowing Pakistan to reach 167. The batsmen who were in the ODI series continued to have a flop show while the ones who were drafted in for the T20I series as specialists, did average on the whole, with Warner and David Hussey getting starts keeping Australia on the hunt but Nannes and Johnson failing miserably. They once again had their problems in chasing and Australia do not have much time to turn around and create an impact to stop the Pakistani team, which is now looking as an unit.

Pakistan, on the other hand, gave their nation plenty of things to celebrate after this massive victory. They did not have a great start with the bat but the middle order rallied around Umar Akmal, their most improved cricketer in the recent past, to get Pakistan to an excellent score. Mohammad Aamer, the other sensation, bowled well once again, picking up three wickets while Saeed Ajmal, after having a nightmare at the T20 World Cup, finally overcame his trauma and picked up 3 scalps as well, finely supported by Umar Gul who showed why he was missed at the World Cup, swinging the ball both ways at the death, causing problems for the batsmen. Shoaib Akhtar had a poor day, being the only black mark for Pakistan with the ball.

Well, after this performance, Pakistan stand a brilliant chance of taking the series 2-0 but given the never-say-die spirit of Australia, one could very well see them bouncing back hard.