After taking the series 2-0, Pakistan looked favourites coming in to the third and the last T20, whereas Australia were looking for a relief victory in the dead-rubber. Pakistan brought in Yasir Arafat for Sohail Tanvir and Glenn Maxwell replaced David Hussey for Australia.

It was a good series for both teams ahead of the World T20 in Sri Lanka, which is around the corner.It involved the heaviest defeats for both teams and a nail-biter. Pakistan will still go in the tournament with confidence with possibly the best playing XI available to them at the moment.

It might seem over the top to suggest that Pakistan have gone from also-rans to leading contenders for the T20 World Cup in the course of two wins against a poor Australia side, but we have seen a lot of good in the last couple of games, enough for Pakistan fans to be quietly optimistic ahead of the World Cup in Sri Lanka.
 
The first and most important reason for this is that Pakistan’s selection committee haven’t repeated the mistakes that they made for the Sri Lanka tour, whereby they erred in selection. The worst pick was that of Khalid Latif, who has failed miserably in his International T20 career with an average of 4.85 and a Strike Rate of 66.66, both of which place him as one of Pakistan’s worst batsmen in T20s, below batting superstars such as Mohammed Sami and Umar Gul.

Pakistan have requested the ZMU (Zimbabwe cricket union) to postpone there scheduled tour to accommodate for there requested tour of India later on in the year

The All rounder who caught a thumb injury during the 2nd ODI against Australia didn't play in the first 2 T20's due to the injury he sustained and it seems as if he'll miss the 3rd and final encounter too.

Last night’s T20I between Pakistan and Australia was more than a thrilling one, it had almost everything in it and ended with an excruciatingly close finish. Pakistan have finally found the spark they had been missing for a couple of years as their T20I performances were not as solemn as they are known to provide. With this series victory, Pakistan would enter the T20 World Cup with more than just confidence and high spirits.

Pakistan again won the toss in the second 2nd T2OI and this time they decided to bat first. Skipper Hafeez has been a little short on the runs during the ODI series but this time he came with the will to score big. The very first ball of the Pakistan innings was dispatched for a boundary. Three boundaries were attained from the first six deliveries. Imran Nazir at the other end has been struggling to get to his usual self. He just can’t get used to this cautious batting style but needs to cut loose and go after the bowlers. This time he couldn’t do anything and was clean bowled for a duck on his second delivery by Starc. In came the in-form Nasir Jamshed and with Hafeez, the two formed a partnership of 76 runs. The second wicket fell at the score of 89 runs when Dane Christian took a spectacular catch of a loose Nasir Jamshed’ shot off Cummins’ bowling. Jamshed added 45 runs to the total with 4 fours and a six. 8 runs later, Hafeez departed as well for 45, caught Warner bowled by Watson. Kamran Akmal continued from where he had left in the first T20 and scored 43 not out with 6 boundaries. But lost Umar Akmal for 13 during the build-up off Christian’s bowling. Pakistan finished with 151 runs for 4 wickets in their allotted 20 overs.

Statistics and facts between Pakistan and Australia in T20I's as we head into the 2nd out of 3 games

Pakistan's off-spinner Saeed Ajmal replaces team mate Mohammed Hafeez to be ranked the No.1 bowler of the ICC ODI Rankings.

Saeed Ajmal, currently the best spin-bowler in the world, has played an important role in Pakistan’s slow and steady rise to the top in all formats. It has been 4 years since he arrived on the international scene, and he just keeps getting better and better with every match. Even now the batsmen fail to pick up his varying deliveries, especially the doosra. It is indeed a rare sight watching a batsman successfully taking the attack to Ajmal. He is ranked as the best bowler in ODIs, 2^nd best in T20Is and the 3^rd best in tests. It is therefore surprising, for cricket fans all over the world, to see him not included in any category of the up-coming ICC cricket awards.

The PCB filed a protest with the ICC and urged them to revise their selection procedure. However, the ICC turned down the PCB’s request saying that the selection was done by an independent jury and it couldn’t be changed. Ironically, England’s Graeme Swann was similarly ignored in the last year’s award, but his name was later included after the ECB protested.

This ridiculous omission has shocked me and all the cricket fans across the world. After a lot of thinking, I couldn’t come up with a single logical reason which could explain the jury’s decision. So, I tried to answer some basic questions in the hope that would clear up the issue.

After the disappointing loss in the ODI series, Pakistan have a point to prove in the three T20Is and they have begun brilliantly. Winning the first T20I rather convincingly and bowling out the Australian side for a mere 89 runs and winning with 31 deliveries left. The preparation for the T20 World Cup couldn't have a better start than this.

Pakistan won the toss and chose to field. Captain Muhammad Hafeez was more than just relying on his spinners and introduced himself into the attack in the beginning for the likes of David Warner. Shahid Afridi's injury cost Pakistan a key bowler but it paved the way for Raza Hassan's debut. Surprisingly, this was Nasir Jamshed's T20I debut as well and for Australia's Glenn Maxwell as well.

By: Ramiz Khawar

A good chance of winning a series against Australia was wasted by Pakistan. But it was the more professional and the more deserving Australian side who took the series. Young Australian players like Starc, Pattinson, Wade and Maxwell got some great experience from this series by playing in tough conditions. Clarke must be proud of the bunch he has got. Pakistan has also got some positives from this. Jamshed and Hafeez look to be back in form and they take this form in the T20’s and the World Cup. More importantly Pakistan takes their review back with them to home. Now it’s all up to the T20’s. It will be the final preparation for both teams before the World Cup.