ICC World Twenty20: Pakistan pack up, as Australia nailed a crucial win

Australia nailed a crucial win to keep themselves in the hunt for an ICC World T20 semi-final slot as they sent Pakistan crashing in their 21-run Super League Group 2 win at the PCA Stadium here on Friday afternoon.

After putting up a competitive 193/4, Australia found their go-to man in pacer James Faulkner after skipper Steve Smith (61 not out) and soon-to-retire Shane Watson (44 not out) had set the stage on fire.

Faulkner killed the chase with his 5/27, including two wickets in the final over, even as Pakistan looked threatening in the early stages. They eventually finished at 172/8, in what was a humiliating exit for the former champions.

The result has now made the India vs Australia match here on Sunday — the final league game from Group 2 — a virtual quarter-final.

If Pakistan had any hopes of keeping their last four chances alive, Australia made sure they stalled all of their plans. Smith & Co. outclassed them in every department giving glimpses of what India can expect on Sunday.

Pakistan began their chase at a brisk pace despite losing openers Sharjeel Khan (30) and Ahmed Shehzad (0) early. Needing to score at nine plus per over, Pakistan seemed in the hunt till 79/2 in 10 overs, but lost the plot hereafter.

Faulkner bowled with accuracy and varied his pace to fox the batsmen and with Khalid Latif (46), Umar Akmal (32) and Shahid Afridi (14) back in the hut — rookie Adam Zampa accounting for two of them — at 147/3 in 17.3 overs, recovery seemed impossible.

Scoreboard Australia: U. Khawaja b Wahab Riaz 21, A. Finch b Imad Wasim 15, D. Warner b Wahab Riaz 9, S. Smith (not out) 61, G. Maxwell c Ahmed Shehzad b Imad Wasim 30, S. Watson (not out) 44. Extras: (lb8, w5) 13. Total: (for 4 wkts, in 20 overs) 193. FoW: 1-28, 2-42, 3-57, 4-119. Bowling: Amir 4-0-39-0 (1w), Sami 4-0-53-0 (3w), Wahab 4-0-35-2, Afridi 4-0-27-0, Imad ‘4-0-31-2.

Pakistan: S. Khan b Faulkner 30, A. Shehzad c Coulter-Nile b Hazlewood 1, K. Latif b Faulkner 46, U. Akmal b Zampa 32, S. Afridi st Nevill b Zampa 14, S. Malik (not out) 40, Imad Wasim c Coulter-Nile b Faulkner 0, S. Ahmed c Khawaja b Faulkner 2, W. Riaz c Hazlewood b Faulkner 0, M. Sami (not out) 4. Extras: (b1, lb1, w1) 3. Total: (for 8 wkts, in 20 overs) 172. FoW: 1-20, 2-40, 3-85, 4-110, 5-147, 6-147, 7-164, 8-164. Bowling: Hazlewood 4-0-26-1 (1w), Coulter-Nile 4-0-45-0, Faulkner 4-0-27-5, Watson 2-0-27-0, Zampa 4-0-32-2, Maxwell 2-0-13-0.