That’s it from us from the 3rd T20I between Australia and Pakistan. The visitors can’t win the series now, but can still pull one back to leave the country with a win. It was a tight finish in Hobart tonight, though, and this is Himanshu signing off on behalf of Sudeep and Danyal. Good night, and take care!
Squads:
Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Cooper Connolly, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.
Pakistan ODI squad: Mohammad Rizwan, Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Agha Salman, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Irfan Khan, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Dave: “Australia fumbled around a little in the last ten overs, but the result was never in doubt. 2-0.”
Josh Inglis: “We thought we were there and thereabouts… really happy.”
Mohammad Rizwan: “If you take the positives, the boys bowled very well. We know Australia is not an easy team; if we give them chances… all the boys bowled well. I prepare myself as to what the conditions demand.”
Spencer Johnson is the Player of the Match: “It’s an opportunity I don’t take lightly. You never know when it’s your last game for Australia. It’s probably a different bowling unit than what we’re used to in Australia.”
Time for the presentations
Adam Zampa: “It’s a great night here at the SCG. To win a series against Pakistan feels good. A lot of games here feel like away games… it was very impressive. Johnson bowls fast. He hasn’t played a lot of cricket.”
Furqan: “Pak lost the match in first 9 overs, where they didn’t hit a boundary off the bat. Unacceptable in this day and age.”
10.47pm A game full of twists, turns, and nudges and nurdles. Take a look at ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster graph, and you’ll know how much this match swung one way and the other until even the last over. But Pakistan were 44 for 4 in the tenth over, and in a hole in their chase of 148 on a slow and gripping pitch. Usman fought back with a fifty, and Irfan kept Pakistan’s hopes alive, but Johnson’s five-for meant Australia remained ahead for most stages.