Daily Times

HARARE: Two highly unpredictable sides, both having won a match by a vast margin against the other in the space of the past week. Pakistan and Australia have seen the quality of their play veer from one extreme to another during the Twenty20 triangular series in Zimbabwe, paving the way for a final that is brimful of possibilities. Loudly criticised by their captain Sarfraz Ahmed earlier in the tournament, Pakistan put it all together for a 45-run victory over Australia on Thursday, in a result that also preserved their No. 1 T20I ranking on the ICC table. Through the shot-making abilities of Fakhar Zaman and the middle-order intelligence of Asif Ali, they were able to put up a more than defensible score, and then used the new ball to tremendous effect, principally through the seam and swing of the highly promising Shaheen Afridi.

This made for quite a contrast with the opening match between Australia and Pakistan, where Aaron Finch’s side took the momentum virtually from the start, through a hostile and well-directed opening spell from Billy Stanlake. He has been unable to replicate that display, and Finch’s strong scores in the first two matches — including a world-record 172 against Zimbabwe — have given way to early exits in the past two games, exposing the weakness of Australia’s batting order in the absence of the suspended David Warner and Steven Smith.

For the Australians there is also the desire to see evidence of progress under their new coach Justin Langer, who made his demands clear by having his players push through a lengthy training session immediately after their loss to Pakistan, a performance characterised by sloppiness with the ball, the bat and in the field. Having lost all six internationals to England on the first leg of this tour, a defeat of the world’s foremost T20I team would be an indicator that the Langer era is beginning to take shape.

In the spotlight: Not only the tournament’s leading run-scorer, Aaron Finch has led Australia with the hungry air of a man who wants his country’s limited-overs leadership on a more permanent basis. A victory in the final would go a long way towards securing that title, in 50-over matches as well as the T20 format. Pakistan will be very aware of how Australia have performed when Finch gets going – two commanding wins – and also of their contrasting fortunes when he has not, with a defeat to Sarfraz Ahmed’s side and then a scrappy win over an already eliminated Zimbabwe. While Shaheen Afridi took most of the bowling plaudits from Pakistan’s win over Australia on Thursday, the vastly more experienced Mohammad Amir seemed to be working his way into good rhythm in his second appearance of the tournament. Given the importance of the new-ball exchanges across the tournament, Amir’s Sunday spell will likely be a strong indicator of who will emerge victorious in the final.

Teams news: Teenaged left-armer Shaheen Afridi’s incisive spell against Australia in Thursday’s qualifying match should mean he retains his place in the team for the competition decider. Having dropped D’Arcy Short at the top of the order and moved Alex Carey up to partner the captain Aaron Finch, Australia’s selectors must decide whether to persist with the combination that beat Zimbabwe on Friday.

Squads:

Pakistan (possible) 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Haris Sohail, 3 Hussain Talat, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt/wk), 6 Asif Ali, 7 Faheem Ashraf, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Usman Khan, 11 Shaheen Afridi

Australia (possible) 1 Aaron Finch (capt), 2 Alex Carey (wk), 3 Travis Head, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Nic Maddinson, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Ashton Agar, 8 Jack Wildermuth, 9 Andrew Tye, 10 Jhye Richardson, 11 Billy Stanlake.

Published in Daily Times, July 8^th 2018.