Aussies seal series triumph… while Pakistani superstars fail BBL clubs

Australia held their nerve to secure an unassailable 2-0 lead in the T20 series against Pakistan and recorded a thrilling 13-run win at the SCG on Saturday night thanks to a career-best performance from Spencer Johnson.

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The hosts successfully defended a modest 148-run target after Johnson tore through Pakistan's top order in a thrilling spell of 5-26, the best bowling figures by an Australian pace bowler in the men's T20Is.

There were some nervous faces in the Australian camp as Usman Khan scored 52 (38), his highest score in T20Is, during the chase and set the tone for a nail-biting finish. However, Johnson returned in the 16th over to end Khan's counter-attack, eventually bowling Pakistan out for 134 in 19.4 overs.

To return to the green and gold is an opportunity I will not take lightly, Johnson told reporters at the post-match press conference.

It's a privilege to play for Australia.

Australia received little support from a 31,563-strong crowd dominated by Pakistani supporters, while the picturesque Sydney venue was blanketed by a sea of ​​green that celebrated every boundary during the chase.

MATCH CENTER: Australia vs Pakistan, second T20 scorecard

Earlier, Australia posted 9-147 after captain Josh Inglis won the toss and elected to bat first, with openers Matt Short (32 from 17 balls) and Jake Fraser-McGurk (20 from nine balls) getting the match off to a rollicking start by He scored 48 runs from the first three overs, including three sixes.

The pair combined for Australia's fastest 50-run opening partnership in the men's T20Is before speedster Haris Rauf, who finished with 4-22 from four overs, broke the tie and turned the momentum back in Pakistan's favour.

Australia's middle order failed to capitalize on the fast start, managing just three boundaries between the third and fourteenth overs, as Pakistan spinner Sufiyan Muqeem tightened the screws during a probing spell of 2-21, including the crucial dismissals by Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis.

However, all-rounder Aaron Hardie scored 29 (23) at the death to steer Australia to a respectable total, while the Pakistan bowlers were left fuming after four regular catches were put up alongside some sloppy ground fielding.

The run chase got off to a slow start, with Pakistan creeping towards 4-44 in the tenth after an early collapse. Seamer Xavier Bartlett removed superstar Babar Azam in the Powerplay, caught at deep square leg for 3, before Johnson dismissed rival captain Muhammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha in successive deliveries.

Khan flipped the script by combining with Mohammad Irfan Khan for a quick 58-run partnership for the fifth wicket, threatening to steal an unlikely win and keep the series alive. Short helped Pakistan's cause by dropping a simple catch in the outfield, giving Khan a huge reprieve on 41.

However, the tourists lost 4-5 in ten deliveries, ruining any chance of a miraculous comeback, with Johnson and leg-spinner Adam Zampa bagging two wickets each.

Khan (37, not yet off 28 balls) refused to back down and smashed a trio of boundaries against seamer Nathan Ellis in the 18th over to give the Pakistani fans a ray of hope, but he was left without partners after two late run-outs.

The third T20 between Australia and Pakistan, a dead rubber, gets underway at Hobarts Bellerive Oval on Monday at 7pm AEDT.

BIG THREE ARE GOING NOWHERE

Johnson has been a fringe member of Australia's white-ball squads for more than 12 months, but Saturday's performance at the SCG confirmed his status as a future superstar.

The left-arm quick, touted as Mitchell Starc's long-term replacement, sprayed the Kookaburra at either end of the field in a wayward opening but was sublime for the remainder of his spell.

With a Champions Trophy campaign on the horizon, Johnson has made his case for a place in the Australian squad for the ICC event, with the likes of Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Jhye Richardson and Lance Morris also fighting for a plane ticket.

However, he does not expect to break into the first-choice starting XI anytime soon. In his eyes, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Starc aren't going anywhere.

Those are the big three, they're incredibly durable, and they've been doing it for so long, Johnson said.

They will be here for a long time. They're not going anywhere.

I think they're only going to get better.

RAUF MAKES MAJOR BASH CLUBS FOOLISHLY RECOGNIZED

The eight Big Bash clubs are probably wondering if they voted for the wrong horse.

Haris Rauf was the favorite of the Pakistani bowlers during this white-ball tour of Australia, taking 15 wickets in five matches.

The right-arm quick claimed four wickets at the SCG on Saturday to rip the heart out of Australia's middle order, producing 13 dot balls in his four-over spell.

Rauf credits his previous experience playing cricket in Australia for his recent success, including four campaigns with the Melbourne Stars in the BBL.

However, the Stars ignored Rauf, along with the seven other Big Bash clubs, during this season's selection of foreign players, a decision they may now regret.

Rauf is understood to have missed the start of this summer's BBL due to Pakistan's white-ball tour of South Africa in December, but indicated he was available for at least six group stage matches and the entire finals campaign.

It felt like I was playing in Pakistan

Minutes before the first ball of Saturday's T20 at the SCG, Cricket Australia announced that public tickets had sold out. Although there were a few gaps in the stands, a healthy crowd of 31,563 attended the match, and that is thanks to the Pakistani fanbase.

At least 80 percent of SCG spectators supported the tourists; Every Pakistani boundary was met with loud cheers as chants of Dil Dil Pakistan echoed around the venue during the innings break.

Speaking to reporters at the post-match press conference through a translator, Pakistan batsman Usman Khan confessed that it felt like a home game for the visitors.

I played in Sydney for the very first time and it felt like I was playing in Pakistan, Khan said.

Without Sydney's South Asian population, the atmosphere at the SCG this weekend would have been drastically different.

They were incredible, Johnson said of Pakistan's supporters.

We said before that if the crowd wasn't there, we probably would have felt like the game was done.

When they applaud the dropped catch or a boundary, the nerves are there.