Pakistan beats Australia in a T20I match after 7 years
Saim Ayub was the star of the show with an impressive all-round performance as he notched up 40 runs while also claiming two wickets
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Saim Ayub celebrates with teammates after taking a wicket.
PCB
Pakistan defeated Australia by 22 runs in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Thursday.
The win ended Pakistan's long wait for a T20I victory over Australia, registering their first win against the visitors in 2,650 days. The landmark triumph came in front of a packed Lahore crowd, providing the hosts with a timely boost just ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Electing to bat first against an Australia squad led by makeshift captain Travis Head and including three debutants, Pakistan posted a competitive 168-8 with Ayub (40) top-scoring for them.
Australia managed 146-8 in reply after their number 10 batter Xavier Bartlett produced an unbeaten 34 off 25 balls.
Earlier, Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan fell for a first-ball duck but Ayub and Pakistan captain Salman Agha (39) steadied their innings with a 74-run stand.
Australia leg-spinner Adam Zampa (4-24) dismissed both the batters and went on to claim the wickets of Babar Azam (24) and Usman Khan (18) to restrict Pakistan, who had looked set for a 175-plus total at one stage.
Ayub continued to trouble Australia when the visitors returned to begin their chase.
The off-spinner dismissed Matthew Short in his first over and landed a bigger blow in his second, when he removed Head (23), who led Australia as regular skipper Mitchell Marsh arrived late after completing his Big Bash League duties Down Under.
To make matters worse for the tourists, both Matt Renshaw and Mitchell Owen were run out.
Mohammad Nawaz effectively sealed the match in Pakistan's favour when the left-arm spinner cut short Green's promising knock of 36 in the 13th over.
Bartlett smashed two sixes in his entertaining knock, which merely reduced Australia's margin of defeat.
The remaining two matches of the series, a warm-up event for next month's T20 World Cup, will be played at the same venue on Saturday and Sunday.
Lineups
Pakistan:
1 Sahibzada Farhan, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Salman Agha (capt), 5 Fakhar Zaman, 6 Shadab Khan, 7 Usman Khan (wk), 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Salman Mirza, 11 Abrar Ahmed
Australia:
1 Travis Head (capt), 2 Matt Short, 3 Cameron Green, 4 Matt Renshaw, 5 Cooper Connolly, 6 Mitchell Owen, 7 Josh Philippe (wk), 8 Jack Edwards, 9 Xavier Bartlett, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Mahli Beardman
With additional input from Reuters
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