Pakistan will have the first of two chances to win their T20 series with Australia on Friday when the two sides meet in the second match of the scheduled three in Dubai. Pakistan dominated the opening match of the series and a repeat of that may well win them this second one.
Australia will know they have to win this match to keep the series alive and take it to a decider over the weekend. The amount of improvement left in them is huge and they will need a good deal of it to level up the ledger.
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Pakistan
The home side must have been delighted with their win in the opening match especially as they looked like they had thrown a good start away with a collapse which bordered on unbelievable at times as it was happening. As it was they need not have worried because they had enough after a dozen overs as it turned out.
They will want to make sure their middle order doesn’t fall away as alarmingly as it did in that first game again but if they can sort that issue out then there didn’t look a lot else wrong with their game. With big players not making much of an impression in that opening match it might be that there is more to come from them which is certainly no bad place to be.
Australia
I would imagine if you had spoken to the Australian camp at half time in the first match they would have been quite confident of going one up in the series but what followed in the second half was a nightmare that they would have scarcely thought was possible. Some quite incredible shots which could not have been more ridiculous if they had tried.
The positive for Australia was their death bowling but how much of a positive that was is open to debate because in truth we expect them to be good in that discipline. They are going to need to make sure they bat a heck of a lot better in this match but at the same time not go into their shell too much because then they won’t have enough runs on the board to defend.
Team News
Pakistan have Shoaib Malik back for this match and after the struggles of the middle order on Wednesday he is expected to go straight back into the team. He could replace Hussain Talat who failed to make much of an impression in that game.
Australia will surely do something to their batting line up after the shambles they delivered in the last match. Mitchell Marsh is the obvious man to come into the middle order. Ben McDermott may drop out given the all-round ability Glenn Maxwell offers.
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Betting
I took Australia in the first match because I was concerned by the Pakistan middle order but Shoaib Malik’s return makes me much more comfortable with the hosts heading into this match. We saw what their bowling attack can produce and there is more to come from them if you consider Shadab Khan was pretty quiet.
Australia have a few issues. They probably aren’t suited to these conditions in that most of their players like getting the cut shot out and there isn’t really the glue in their middle order to get them back on track if they lose early wickets. They won’t bat as badly in this match as they did in that one but it is against their natural instincts to knock the ball around and accumulate scores. That can be their undoing in this second match.
Tips
WON – Back Pakistan to beat Australia for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
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