Australia knock Pakistan out of T20 World Cup

Australia finally got their T20 World Cup campaign rolling with a convincing win over Pakistan in Mohali on Friday. All-rounder James Faulkner’s five wicket haul helped the One Day International champions restrict Pakistan who have been knocked out of the tournament.

Australian Captain Steve Smith scored an unbeaten 61 to help his side post 193 runs against Pakistan. REUTERS/Hamish Blair

Prior to this match, Australia had lost to New Zealand and had struggled to beat Bangladesh. On Friday, they were a transformed unit led by skipper Steve Smith in batting who anchored a brilliant unbeaten 61 that helped his side post a challenging score of 193 runs in 20 overs.

He stitched important partnerships with Glen Maxwell and Shane Watson who scored 30 and 44 not out respectively.

Pakistan started the run chase solidly scoring 85 runs in the first 10 overs.

However, they couldn’t sustain the momentum as Faulkner snapped up three quick wickets to restrict Pakistan whose final score was 172 runs.

Khalid Latif was the top scorer with 46 runs followed by Shoaib Malik who hit an unbeaten 40 in just 20 balls.

Faulkner eventually ended up taking five wickets that earned him the man of the match award. Australia next play hosts India in what has become a virtual quarterfinal. New Zealand have already qualified for the semifinal from Group 1 after winning all three matches.

West Indies take on South Africa in today’s other match. West Indies can seal their semifinal berth win a win. For South Africa, a win is a must to ensure their survival in the tournament.

Scorecard

Australia:

U. Khawaja b Riaz 21, A. Finch b Wasim 15, D. Warner b Riaz 9, S. Smith not out 61,
G. Maxwell c Shehzad b Wasim 30, S. Watson not out 44

Total (for 4 wickets, 20 overs) 193

Fall of wickets: 1-28 (Khawaja), 2-42 (Warner), 3-57 (Finch), 4-119 (Maxwell)

Bowling: Amir 4-0-39-0, Sami 4-0-53-0, Riaz 4-0-35-2, Afridi 4-0-27-0, Wasim 4-0-31-2

Pakistan:

S. Khan b Faulkner 30, A. Shehzad c Coulter-Nile b Hazlewood 1, K. Latif b Faulkner 46, U. Akmal b Zampa 32, S. Afridi st Nevill b Zampa 14, S. Malik not out 4, I. Wasim c Coulter-Nile b Faulkner 0, S. Ahmed c Khawaja b Faulkner 2, W. Riaz Khawaja b Faulkner 0, M. Sami not out 4

Total (for 8 wickets, 20 overs) 172

Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Shehzad), 2-40 (Khan), 3-85 (Akmal), 4-110 (Afridi), 5-147 (Latif), 6-147 (Wasim), 7-164 (Ahmed)

Bowling: Hazlewood 4-0-26-1, Coulter-Nile 4-0-45-0, Faulkner 4-0-27-5, Watson 2-0-27-0, Zampa 4-0-32-2, Maxwell 2-0-13-0