In a historic turnaround at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, Pakistan secured their first Twenty20 victory against Australia in eight years with a commanding 22-run win in the series opener on Thursday. The match pitted a full-strength Pakistani squad against an under-strength Australian side missing five World Cup players, providing crucial momentum for Pakistan just over a week before the T20 World Cup commences.
Pakistan’s batting lineup established a competitive total of 168-8, powered by a dynamic 74-run partnership between Saim Ayub (40 off 22 balls) and captain Salman Ali Agha (39). Ayub’s innings featured his trademark no-look boundaries against pace bowling, while Agha demonstrated power hitting with four sixes. Their efforts were countered by Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa, who delivered exceptional figures of 4-24, including the crucial wickets of both set batters and Babar Azam in his 100th T20 appearance.
The match ultimately turned on Pakistan’s spin dominance, with their World Cup-selected quartet of Ayub, Abrar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, and Mohammad Nawaz collectively claiming six wickets. Ahmed proved particularly economical with 2-10 from his four overs, while Ayub’s two wickets included the valuable dismissal of Australian stand-in captain Travis Head for 23 runs. Australia’s response stalled at 146-8 despite a 36-run contribution from Cameron Green and late fireworks from Xavier Bartlett (34 not out).
Australian captain Head acknowledged the challenging conditions, stating, ‘It was disappointing, but that’s how batting goes sometimes. We felt like we dragged it back well after the first 10 overs but the conditions made it difficult.’ The teams will reconvene at the same venue for the final two matches of the series on Saturday and Sunday.