Pakistan vs Australia, 2nd T20I: Presenting match preview and stats
What's the story
Pakistan will take on Australia in the second T20I of a three-match series at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on January 31. The match is scheduled to start at 4:30pm IST. Pakistan won the first T20I by 22 runs, marking their first victory against Australia in this format in over seven years. Before Thursday's win, Pakistan had lost to Australia in seven successive matches, starting from November 2019 to November 2024. Here's more,
Match recap
Summary of the 1st T20I
In the first T20I, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. They scored 168/8 in their allotted overs. Australia started off strong with a powerplay score of 57/2 but faltered later on. The pitch at Gaddafi Stadium offered plenty of assistance to spinners, which was well utilized by Shadab Khan, Abrar Ahmed, and Mohammad Nawaz. Australia faltered in the chase.
Pitch analysis
Pitch report and preview
The first T20I saw spinners getting a lot of help from the surface at Gaddafi Stadium. After the ball got softer, scoring runs freely became difficult. It remains to be seen if this trend continues in the match on January 31. For Australia, the likes of Travis Head and Adam Zampa will be expected to lead from the front. Pakistan will hope their spinners once again get going.
Team stats
A look at head-to-head record and predicted playing XIs
Pakistan and Australia have played 29 T20Is against each other, with both teams winning 14 matches each, as per ESPNcricinfo. PAK probable XI: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha (c), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan (WK), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed. AUS probable XI: Matthew Short, Travis Head (c), Cameron Green, Matt Renshaw, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Josh Phillipe (WK), Jack Edwards, Xavier Bartlett, Adam Zampa, Mahli Beardman.
Numbers
Player focus: Here are the key stats
In 137 matches, Babar Azam owns 4,453 runs for Pakistan at 39.40. He is 47 shy of the 4,500-run milestone. Sahibzada Farhan recorded his 3rd T20I duck in the opening clash of the series. Notably, he owns 917 runs from 38 matches at 24.78. Zampa completed a milestone of 400 scalps in the 20-over format during the 1st encounter. He has 138 scalps for the Aussies at 20.80. Versus Pakistan, he has picked 16 scalps from 12 matches at 17.93.