Dubai: Australia stunned Pakistan in a thriller of a semi-final by 5 wickets in ICC World T20 in Dubai on Thursday to clinch a bout with neighbours New Zealand in the final.
The Aussies chased down a target of 177 in the 19th over thanks to the heroics of David Warner(49), Mathew Wade(41*) and Marcus Stoinis(40*) after Mohammad Rizwan(67) and Fakhar Zaman(53) helped Pakistan post a solid 176.
However, Aussies got hit early chasing a challenging target off 177 as Shaheen Afridi jolted them in the first over removing skipper Aaron Finch. David Warner coupled with Mitchell Marsh(28) gave quick recovery stitching a breezy 52 runs before the later fell just after the powerplay.
Warner though kept the scoreboard ticking on his own and was looking good however, fell to Shadab Khan in a bizarre fashion after being given out on 49, replay showed the bat had no connection with bat.Pakistan made comeback through Shadab Khan(4/26) who jolted four times in four over leaving Australia stranded at 96/5 in the 13th over.
The Aussie, who looked down and out stamped their authority by starting an onslaught through Marcus Stoinis(40*) and Matthew Wade(41*). Needing 57 off the last four the duo clobbered Pakistani bowlers out of the park making it cut down to 22 off the last two.
Wade though showed killer Instinct as he smashed Shaheen Afridi for a trio sixes to seal the deal. However, Pakistan still could have changed the game had Hassan Ali taken the catch of Wade in the same over but the lady luck was with the Aussies in the night with their power packed duo adding unbeaten 82 runs.
Earlier, Pakistan’s innings took off in style as the Babar Azam-Mohammad Rizwan duo added 71 runs in the first half of the innings for the opening stand setting the tone up. Skipper Babar though missed out on a deserving half-century as he got dismissed going for a big hot off Adam Zampa only to to find David Warner.
The Aussie spin duo of Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa managed to dry the runs up a bit in the middle overs putting the pressure back on the Pakistani batters who were struggling a bit at 117/1 after the 16th over.
The former champions however went berserk in the last four over. While Rizwan got his half-century in meantime picking up the gears, his partner Fakhar Zaman took the initiative to go after bowlers with the south-paw after scoring just 17 off 17 went to 53 off 32 changing the complexion of the innings. The duo added a game changing 72 runs for second as Pakistan smashed 59 off the last four overs to post 176 on the board although they lost wickets in the process as well. Rizwan after scoring anchoring the innings with 52 ball 67 fell to Mitchell Starc.
Aussie bowlers , failed to keep the pressure on at death which they did it at the start. Although Adam Zampa(1/22) and Pat Cummins(1/30) bowled superbly topping the charts alongside Glenn Maxwell, other were taken apart to all areas of the pitch especially the frontline seamer Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
Brief Scores: Australia 177/5 In 19 overs(David Warner 49, Matthew Wade 41; Shadab Khan 4/26) beat Pakistan 176/4 in 20 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 67, Fakhar Zaman 53; Adam Zampa 1/22, Pat Cummins 1/30) by 5 wickets.
