Spencer Johnson delivers as Australia hang on to claim series

Australia fought back from losing three wickets in nine deliveries to defeat Pakistan by 13 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), claiming the T20I series.

After losing the ODI series to Pakistan, Australia has enacted its revenge in the best way possible with back-to-back victories in the T20I series and will be looking to make it a clean sweep on Monday at Hobart.

It was a rapid start to Australia's batting innings, with Jake Fraser-McGurk scoring four consecutive boundaries in the opening over.

However, the rookie opener couldn't turn around his fortunes. He quickly departed in the third over, with Josh Inglis (0) and Matthew Short (32) following him to the dressing room within nine deliveries.

Glenn Maxwell (21) and Aaron Hardie (28) attempted to steady the ship in the middle to late overs but were kept to a considerable total of 147 with Haris Rauf (4-22) and Abbas Afridi (3-17) taking seven wickets between them.

Dropping four catches in the field, Pakistan's headaches continued with the bat as Babar Azam (3) and Sahibzada Farhan (5) departed within the opening few overs as the pitch continued to do tricks with the ball.

Failing to score a boundary in the powerplay, the run rate quickly crept up to onwards of nine runs per over as they struggled to find the middle of the bat in front of the 31,563 fans in attendance.

However, they were able to stay in the match because of Usman Khan, who registered a half-century and created a good partnership with Irfan Khan.

Needing 48 off the final five overs, Spencer Johnson delivered and claimed the wicket of Khan after he was previously dropped on 42 by Matthew Short.

This followed Johnson's early three wickets, two of which came in back-to-back deliveries and another one after Khan, as he finished with career-best figures of 5-26.

With the match seemingly dead and buried, Irfan Khan took over as he looked to create a formidable comeback.

Taking the bowlers on, he finished with 37 and took the match to the final over but just fell short by 13 runs.

Key Takeaways

First Innings

• Jake Fraser-McGurk starts the match in red-hot form, scoring 20 runs off the first over before departing the crease.
• His opening partner Matthew Short also scored a team-high 32 runs before being one of three players to lose their wicket within nine balls - the others were Fraser-McGurk and a second-ball duck to skipper Josh Inglis.
• Pakistan seamer Haris Rauf was taken from the field with injury but managed to walk to the dressing rooms, indicating that it wasn't as serious as first thought.
• Rauf took 4-22, while Abbas Afridi took 3-17 off four overs, keeping Australia's score to a minimum.
• Pakistan dropped four easy catches in the field from a variety of positions.

Second Innings

• Australia kept Pakistan to a limited score of 30 with no boundaries in the powerplay after taking the early wickets of Babar Azam and Sahibzada Farhan.
• Spencer Johnson took two wickets - Mohammad Rizwan (16) and Salman Agha (0) - in two balls and nearly managed to walk away with a hat-trick.
• Matthew Short dropped Usman Khan on 42 on the boundary after losing the ball in the light and conceded four runs in the process.
• Khan finished with 52 runs off 38 deliveries with five boundaries, bringing life back into the game and keeping them in the hunt for victory.
• Spencer Johnson claimed 5-26, his career-best figures, which included the important scalps of Khan and skipper Mohammad Rizwan.

Scorecard (Australia)

1. Matthew Short 32 (b. Abbas Afridi)
2. Jake Fraser-McGurk 20 (c. Agha Salman b. Haris Rauf)
3. Josh Inglis 0 (c. Sufitan Muqueem b. Haris Rauf)
4. Glenn Maxwell 21 (c. Sahibzada Farhan b. Sufiyan Muqeem)
5. Marcus Stonis 14 (c. Abbas Afridi b. Sufiyan Muqeem)
6. Tim David 18 (c. Abbas Afridi b. Haris Rauf)
7. Aaron Hardie 28 (c. Mohammad Rizwan b. Abbas Afridi)
8. Xavier Bartlett 5 (b. Haris Rauf)
9. Nathan Ellis 1 (not out)
10. Spencer Johnson 0 (c. Sahibzada Farhan b. Abbas Afridi)
11. Adam Zampa 0 (not out)

Scorecard (Pakistan)

1. Mohammad Rizwan 16 (c. Tim David b. Spencer Johnson)
2. Babar Azam 3 (c. Xavier Ellis b. Xavier Bartlett)
3. Sahibzada Farhan 5 (c. Xavier Bartlett b. Spencer Johnson)
4. Usman Khan 52 (c. Xavier Bartlett b. Spencer Johnson)
5. Salman Agha 0 (c. Josh Inglis b. Spencer Johnson)
6. Irfan Khan 367 (not out)
7. Abbas Afridi 4 (c. Matthew Short b. Spencer Johnson)
8. Shaheen Shah Afridi 0 (b. Adam Zampa)
9. Naseem Shah 0 (b. Zampa)
10. Sufiyan Muqeem 0 (run out - Matthew Short/Josh Inglis)
11. Haris Rauf 2 (run out - Tim David/Josh Inglis)