T20 World Cup | Australia won't leak 60 runs in death overs - Mohammad Amir warns Pakistan ahead of semi-final clash

11/07/2021

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Mohammad Amir is of the opinion that the Babar Azam-led side should play quality cricket to defeat Australia in the semi-final at the marquee event. Amir further added that the Pakistan will have to play attacking cricket from the start as Australia won't leak easy runs towards the end.

Pakistan have displayed an all-round performance and dominated the opposition teams so far in the Super 12 stage after handing resounding defeats to teams like India and New Zealand. Pakistan will play their final fixture in the Super 12s against Scotland on Sunday in Sharjah. Having four wins from as many matches at the marquee event, the Babar Azam-led side are placed at the top on the points table in Group 2, and almost certain of locking horns with Australia in the semi-final at the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021.

Australia, who registered a thumping eight-wicket victory against West Indies on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, finished second in Group 1 after winning four out of five matches. Australia’s victories came against strong sides like South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and West Indies.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir stated that Pakistan needs to be on top of thier game to defeat Australia in the sem-final. He further stated that India were the only team which could have given a tough competition to Pakistan in Group 2.

“Pakistan’s real test will now begin because, in my opinion, the only team which could have given tough time to Pakistan in the group stage was India as we know the conditions in UAE very well,” Amir said on his official YouTube channel.

“Australia have been playing some good cricket and Pakistan needs to be on top of their game to beat them. Chasing [against West Indies] 160 in 16 overs for the loss of two wickets is no joke, it means that they are in good rhythm,” he said.

Amir pointed out that the Pakistan batsmen failed to make use of the powerplay overs against Namibia on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi. Speaking on the semi-final clash against Australia, Amir reckoned that the 2009 T20 World Cup champions should show intent from ball one against the Aaron Finch-led side to claim an upper hand in the match.

“The mindset of teams, especially in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, is to post a score around 160 and in order to do that you need to take advantage of the powerplay. If you look at the match against Namibia, despite the fact that they didn’t have any world-class bowlers, Pakistan didn’t utilise the powerplay properly and tried to make up for it at the back end of the innings,” said Amir

“However, Australia won’t let you do that. They won’t concede 60 runs in the last four overs so Pakistan needs to ensure that they play attacking cricket from ball one. If you go in survival mode against top sides at the beginning, they won’t give you margin to make a comeback later in the match. We need to score at least 35-40 runs in the powerplay in order to score 160 plus,” he added.

Pakistan will play their final fixture in the Super 12 stage against Scotland on Sunday in Sharjah.