HARARE: Opener Fakhar Zaman blazed his way to a career-best 73 to help Pakistan race to 194 for 7 against Australia in the Twenty20 tri-series in Zimbabwe.
Zaman´s knock, along with contributions from the middle order, helped Pakistan reach their highest total of the tournament in a match which is effectively a dress rehearsal for Sunday´s final.
Haris Sohail had chipped the very first ball he faced tamely to D´Arcy Short at midwicket to depart for a golden duck, but Zaman and Hussain Talat steadily wrested control back in the course of a rapid 72-run stand.
Talat cracked three fours and a six before being bowled by Glenn Maxwell´s offspin, but Zaman continued to middle his aggressive strokes.
Zaman surged to a 33-ball 50, his third for Pakistan in this format, with a slog sweep for six, while another big hit off Andrew Tye´s seamers took him past his previous best of 61.
A four took Pakistan beyond 130, and Zaman into the 70s, in the 15th over, but the next ball he faced was pulled straight to Maxwell on the edge of the circle at midwicket.
The quick dismissal of captain Sarfraz Ahmed, edging a Tye legcutter into the hands of wicketkeeper Alex Carey, put a further dent in Pakistan´s batting, but the experienced Shoaib Malik ensured the runs kept flowing.
He took 15 off the 17th over, bowled by Marcus Stoinis, boosting Pakistan beyond 150.
Fakhar Zaman makes his T20I best 73 off 42 while Asif Ali's 37 off 18 helps blast Pakistan to 194/7 in Harare – will it be out of reach for Australia?#AUSvPAK LIVE ➡️ https://t.co/Wut43AngqM pic.twitter.com/SD7d0YycRL
— ICC (@ICC) July 5, 2018
After Malik fell, Asif Ali struck three fours and two sixes in an unbeaten 37 to keep the pressure on Australia right to the end of the innings.
Pakistan knocked Zimbabwe out of the tri-series in a closely-fought encounter on Wednesday, beating the hosts by seven wickets and setting up a final date with Australia on Sunday, July 8.
Australia have won both their games in the series and look confident under the leadership of Aaron Finch, who smashed his own record for the highest individual T20I score by hitting 172 against Zimbabwe.
Pakistan outclassed hosts Zimbabwe in the series opener, but succumbed to a defeat by Australia in their second match before regaining form and beating Zimbabwe again yesterday.
Playing XI
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Hussain Talat, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt, wk), Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Usman Khan
Australia: Aaron Finch (capt), D Arcy Short, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Nic Maddinson, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Ashton Agar, Andrew Tye, Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake