Adelaide, Nov 18: Australia claimed the T20I series against Pakistan in the second game itself at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It was Spencer Johnson who claimed five wickets in the second innings â including those of Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan and vice captain Agha Salman on back-to-back deliveries â to deflate the air from Pakistanâs chase.Despite a spirited fightback in the second half of the innings by Usman Khan and Irfan Khan, pakistan fell short by 13 runs.
Earlier, Australia got off to a record-breaking start before Pakistan came back hard with the ball to restrict the hosts to 147/9 in the second T20.
Inglis, Aussie skipper said, Boys at the top got us to a flier. It was tough through the middle as they adapted to conditions really well, bowled cutters and into the wicket. We thought we were there and therabout. I thought the way the bowlers went about it was brilliant. There’s so many options in this team I can go to. Everytime I turned to Johnson tonight, he got a pole. Really happy for him. The way they played tonight was really good (the two openers). Put their bowlers under pressure and got us off to a flier. I need to sleep – it’s tough work this captaincy. Quick turnaround – we’ll get there tomorrow and have a look at the wicket. That drop catch – I was thinking more of the captaincy than the keeping. It’s tough. But it’s something I’m keen to learn about and hopefully grow.
Rizwan, Pakistan captain: Bowlers bowled really well. But if you drop crucial catches, it will cost you always. We all know Australia is not an easy team, especially in these conditions. We all know pitch wasn’t easy to bat. Catches were crucial. Haris loves Australia because of the pace and bounce. Not sure about the changes for the third game. Will see what the situation demands.
Johnson | POTM: It’s every kid’s dream to play for Australia. It’s something I don’t take lightly and very privileged to wear the green and gold. Never know when your last game is going to be. Every game is a bonus and hopefully I can play a couple more. It’s probably a different bowling unit than we’re used to for Australia and hopefully we’re doing a good enough job. We used the conditions well. It was summed up early with Bartlett – how he was nipping it around. I didn’t get it right in the first over but the communication between us three pacers helped us get over the line.