HOBART: Pakistan’s cricket team arrived in Hobart on Sunday to face Australia in the third and final T20I of the series at Bellerive Oval on Monday.
Having already lost the series 2-0, the visitors will try to avoid a whitewash by securing a consolation victory. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM local time (01:00 PM Pakistan’s local time).
The Pakistani squad, buoyed by their historic ODI series win earlier in the tour, has struggled to replicate that form in the T20I series.
They were defeated in the rain-affected opening match on Thursday and fell short by 13 runs in the second T20I at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.
Set a target of 148 in Sydney, Pakistan could only manage 134 before being bowled out in the final over.
Dropped catches proved costly, with Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan admitting during the post-match presentation that fielding lapses had hurt their chances.
“If you drop crucial catches at crucial times, it will cost you always. Australia in Australia isn’t an easy team. If you give them chances like that and you have to get 16 wickets (due to the drops), it won’t be easy for any team,” Rizwan said.
Rizwan, who struggled with the bat, scoring 16 off 26 deliveries, also highlighted the challenging nature of the Sydney pitch. “We all know that the pitch wasn’t easy to bat on, so the catches were crucial,” he added.
Pakistan Squad
Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (capt, wk), Sahibzada Farhan, Usman Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem.
Australia Squad
Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short, Josh Inglis (capt, wk), Glenn Maxwell, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Hardie, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson.
