Pakistan’s spinners Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal and Raza Hasan bowled Australia out for just 89 to set up an easy seven-wicket win in the first Twenty20 international here on Wednesday.
Ajmal (2/13), Hasan (2/15) and skipper Hafeez (2/24) shook the Australian batting before left-arm paceman Sohail Tanvir (3/13) wrapped up the innings in 19.3 overs. Pakistan then romped home in 14.5 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
It was an easy win for Pakistan at Dubai Stadium after going down 2-1 in the preceding one-day series.
Shoaib Malik hit the winning boundary, finishing with nine not out while Kamran Akmal finished with an unbeaten 31 with three boundaries and a six.
The victory was never in doubt once Pakistan bowled well. Hafeez (17) and Imran Nazir (22) gave Pakistan a solid start of 30 before losing Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed (10) in quick succession. Akmal and Malik saw off the target without any discomfort.
The second match will be played here on Friday.
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