The Travis Head-led Aussie outfit featured three debutants
Australia’s makeshift crew have suffered a tame 22-run defeat in their first T20 international outing against Pakistan in Lahore despite the best efforts of their evergreen spinner Adam Zampa.
In a shadow side featuring three newcomers and without a host of top names as the World Cup looms, it was left to their all-time leading T20 wicket-taker Zampa to spearhead their push with his excellent 4-24 at the Gaddafi Stadium that did most to restrict Pakistan to 8-168 in the first of the three-match series.
But Australia’s reply on Thursday was a bit shambolic, and once stand-in captain Travis Head had departed for 23 after an early brisk cameo and Cameron Green had holed out on 36, they could only limp to 8-146.
The impressive Xavier Bartlett, who’d earlier taken 2-26, did at least give it a belated go, smiting 34no off 25 balls, but the game had already gone as Pakistan’s four spinners strangled the Aussie middle-order.
It left Pakistan savouring their first victory in a T20 against Australia for seven years and after seven straight defeats.
Australia, though, looked predictably short of weaponry with captain Mitch Marsh rested and minus Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Glenn Maxwell, Tim David and Nathan Ellis, who’ve all been put on ice with the Cup looming.
Of the three debutants, Test batter Matt Renshaw was looking good only to be run out for 15 after a horrendous mix-up with Green, while allrounder Jack Edwards went for a wicketless 25 off two overs and failed with the bat (five).
But there was some cheer for the 20-year-old quick Mahli Beardman, who after getting his first ball in senior international cricket dispatched for six by Saim Ayub and going for 13 off his first over, recovered impressively and, handed the death over, ended with two tail-end wickets in successive balls.
The youngster’s hat-trick ball, alas, was a no-ball which was edged through the vacant slip area.
“There are definitely positives, but also things to work on,” shrugged Head. “We have two more opportunities before we head to Sri Lanka for the World Cup, and we want to continue playing as well as we can.
“Even though the result didn’t go our way today, there are things we did well and areas we can improve.”
After losing the toss and being asked to field, Head, taking the reins as Marsh grabbed a break after the Scorchers’ BBL triumph, couldn’t have envisaged a better start than Bartlett eking out the wicket of Sahibzada Farhan with a tame caught-and-bowled on the very first ball of the innings.
Pakistan regrouped quickly though, with the excellent Ayub (40) and captain Salman Agha (39) putting on a swift 73 for the second wicket, only for Zampa to stop the rot by tempting them to both hole out in the deep in quick succession.
The leggie then struck again, trapping Babar Azam, on 24, lbw on review. The most economical of all the Aussie bowlers, he completed his fine work by snaring Usman Khan as his third victim caught at long-on. It meant he’d dismissed all four of Pakistan’s top-scorers.
Player of the match Ayub was too canny for both Australian openers with his spin, bowling Matt Short for five before Head, who’d hit two sixes among the 13 balls he faced, miscued to give Babar one of his three nicely-judged catches in the deep.
The key moment came when mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed, who bowled superbly for 2-10 off his four overs, was introduced. His first over began with the run-out miscommunication between Renshaw and Green, before he then bamboozled Cooper Connolly for a second-ball duck.
Abrar later snaffled a struggling Josh Philippe for 12, while Mitch Owen got unlucky when he was run-out at the non-striker’s end, as Mohammad Nawaz’s deflection of a Green drive deflected on to the stumps.
Qantas T20I tour of Pakistan 2026
First T20I: January 29, Pakistan beat Australia by 22 runs
Second T20I: January 31, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, 10pm AEDT (4pm PKT)
Third T20I: February 1, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, 10pm AEDT (4pm PKT)
Australia squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Mahli Beardman, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitch Owen, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Matt Short, Marcus Stonis, Adam Zampa
