With Babar Azam on the side, you are never alone. A modern-day phenomenon, Azam was at the top of his game once again, showing why he is among the best of the best in world cricket. Opening the batting, he treaded carefully to ensure the run-rate is stable. He was helped by some careful batting by Mohammed Hafeez who negotiated Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins by using all his experience as Pakistan reached an above-par total of 182 runs.

In the SRL history, 183 has been chased, with some balls left in the game, with surgical precision, but to stand a chance against Pakistan, you need pretty runs up front. Australia, losing three wickets within the powerplay, messed up their own chance and after that, it was one-way traffic. Mitchell Marsh put up a mini fightback with David Warner but the result was already written on the wall. A 33-run win is as convincing as it can get. 

When you score only seven runs in a three-over period inside the powerplay and can afford to lose a wicket in every over, you push yourself to the mud. Australia did exactly that in front of some fearsome Pakistani bowling display to dig their own hole, and were left to play catch-up. From that point on, they could never really recover.

The 15th Over of the Pakistan innings, which was bowled by Kane Richardson, was the definite low in the game, for it ended their hopes of getting to a big total. Once Mohammed Hafeez and Shoaib Malik were out, Azam had to tread cautiously and were eventually dismissed in the 19th Over. Pakistan could never recover from that. 

After choosing to bat first, which was a rarity in T20 cricket, Pakistan would have hoped Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman to give them a solid beginning but Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc are not your regular opponents. The Aussie duo kept things tight, not letting any freebies, as Pakistan struggled to keep the scoreboard ticking. Zaman’s dismissal in the second over made things trickier for Pakistan as Hafeez took his own sweet time to find his feet in the middle as the Asian team scampered their way to 48/1 in six overs.

As the middle over progressed, it was clear that the wicket was not easy for batting but credit must be given to Azam and Hafeez for staying there to negotiate. The run-flow, however, was in check until the 14th Over and Richardson struck twice in the 15th to ensure Australia had the advantage in middle-over exchange. 71 runs all they could manage in the nine-over period. Meh??

In hindsight, Australia would rue the death bowling as one of the major reasons behind the loss. After putting Pakistan to a moderate total of 119 in 15 overs, they gave away 63 runs straightaway in the last five, only to ensure a devastating effect in the process. Cummins and Starc were supposed to be the main wrecker in chief but they suffered some heavy pounding. 

The game might have been a fun one for Pakistani pacers’ display, but from the perspective of the neutral fans, this was as boring as it could get.