Australia pulled off an impressive comeback win in the second T20I against Pakistan in Sydney on Saturday. The fast bowler Spencer Johnson produced his career-best figures to help Australia register a 13-run win and a home series win.
Openers Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matthews Short gave Australia a stunning start in powerplay but the hosts were restricted to just 147 total after Haris Rauf's 4 for 22 spell. Pakistan seemed on track for a win with Usman Khans bringing his maiden T20I fifty but Spencer took 5 wickets for 26 to bowl out Mohammad Rizwan's side to 134.
After winning the toss, Josh Inglis-led Australia opted to bat first with the same team that registered an easy 29-run win in the opening game. Fraser-McGurk and Short put Australia on a track for a huge total with aggressive batting in the opening stages.
Australia registered their fastest team fifty in just 19 balls but Pakistan made a stunning comeback. Haris Rauf gave the travelling side a breakthrough with Fraser-McGurk's wicket in the fourth over and dismissed Inglis on a two-ball duck to put a brake on Australia's fiery start.
Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis then added 30 runs for the fourth wicket but both struggled for the aggressive cricket. Abbas Afridi and spinner Sufuyan Muqeem made a late impact with the former taking three wickets to restrict Australia to 147 for 9. Rauf picked four wickets to equal Shadab Khan's all-time record for the most T20I wickets for Pakistan, 107 wickets in just 72 innings.
Babar Azam's poor run of form continued as Xavier Bartlett dismissed the former Pakistani captain on just three runs in the second over to give Australia a brilliant start. Rizwan scored 16 runs but took 26 balls, adding more pressure to lower-order batters in the closing stages.
Usman Khan top-scored with 52 runs off 38 balls to bring his maiden T20I fifty and Irfan Khan added unbeaten 37 runs as Pakistan fell 13 runs short in a thrilling chase. Spencer became the only fifth Australian to register a five-wicket haul in T20I cricket while the star spinner Adam Zampa claimed two wickets.
Pakistan Playing XI: Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Babar Azam, Usman Khan, Agha Salman, Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem.
Australia Playing XI: Matthew Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Josh Inglis (c & wk), Glenn Maxwell, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Hardie, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson.
