LAHORE: All-rounder Saim Ayub starred in Pakistan&#39;s spin-assisted 22-run win over&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/australia-announce-squad-for-threegame-t20i-series-in-pakistan" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Australia</a>&nbsp;in the first Twenty20 international in Lahore on Thursday.&nbsp;Ayub top-scored in Pakistan&#39;s 168-8 with a 22-ball 40 that included two sixes and three fours, while Salman Agha added four sixes and a four in his 27-ball 39.&nbsp;The tourists managed 146-8 in their 20 overs with spinners taking six wickets for Pakistan.&nbsp;With the ball, Ayub dismissed Australian openers Matthew Short (five) and Travis Head, who hit two sixes and two fours in his 13-ball 23.&nbsp;Cameroon Green resisted with a 31-ball 36 but Australia succumbed to spin with Abrar Ahmed taking 2-10 while Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan took a wicket apiece.&nbsp;Both teams were tuning up for the australia&nbsp;starting in India and Sri Lanka from February 7.&nbsp;Pakistan skipper Agha praised a team effort.&nbsp;&quot;It was a great game with complete team effort,&quot; said Agha. &quot;We started well with the bat but couldn&#39;t finish the way we wanted.&nbsp;&quot;It became challenging after the first 10 overs as the ball stopped coming onto the bat, but I think we were outstanding with the ball.&quot;&nbsp;Head, standing in for regular skipper Mitchell Marsh who rested, showed disappointment over batting.&nbsp;&quot;It was disappointing, but that&#39;s how batting goes sometimes,&quot; said Head.&nbsp;&quot;We felt like we dragged it back well after the first 10 overs but as the ball got softer, it became harder to score.&quot;&nbsp;Earlier, Ayub led Pakistan&#39;s batting after the home team won the toss and chose to bat.&nbsp;Paceman Xavier Bartlett jolted Pakistan by dismissing Sahibzada Farhan with the first ball of the match.&nbsp;But Ayub and Agha restored the innings with a second wicket stand of 74, but spinner Adam Zampa put the brakes on Pakistan&#39;s progress with 4-24.&nbsp;Zampa dismissed both Ayub and Agha in successive overs before accounting for Babar Azam (24) and Usman Khan (18).&nbsp;Debutant Mahli Beardman finished with 2-33 as Pakistan managed just 31 in the last five overs.&nbsp;The last two matches are on Saturday and Sunday, also in Lahore.

Cricket

Saim Ayub’s all-round show powered Pakistan to a 22-run win over Australia in the first T20I in Lahore. He scored 40 and took two wickets as spinners dominated ahead of the World Cup warm-up series.

Ayub star in Pakistan's win over Australia in first T20I

LAHORE: Pakistan take on Australia in a three-match Twenty20 international series starting in Lahore from Thursday, despite doubts over their participation in next month&#39;s World Cup in cricket&#39;s shortest format.&nbsp;The country&#39;s cricket chief Mohsin Naqvi will announce a final decision on taking part in the mega event either on Friday or Monday.&nbsp;Pakistan are protesting over last week&#39;s decision by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which rejected Bangladesh&#39;s demand to relocate their matches out of India over security fears.&nbsp;Bangladesh are replaced by Scotland in the 20-team event, which runs from February 7 to March 8 with Sri Lanka as co-hosts.&nbsp;However, despite the doubts, the Pakistan team was preparing for the World Cup with skipper Salman Agha stressing the importance of the<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/australia-announce-squad-for-threegame-t20i-series-in-pakistan" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Australia</a> series.&nbsp;&quot;These three games will give us an idea how prepared we are for the World Cup,&quot; Agha told a news conference on Wednesday. &quot;Australia is a top team and will give us the best final preparations.&quot;&nbsp;Pakistan are placed in Group A alongside defending world champions India, the United States, Namibia and the Netherlands.&nbsp;Pakistan&#39;s spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi returns to full fitness after injuring his knee in the Big Bash League in Australia this month.&nbsp;&quot;We need to see how many boxes we tick in the series which are important for the World Cup as we aim to do well and win the Cup,&quot; Agha said.&nbsp;A 17-member Australian squad led by Mitchell Marsh arrived in Lahore early on Wednesday, with the last two matches set for January 31 and February 1.&nbsp;The Australians are without the injured quartet of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Tim David and Nathan Ellis, while allrounder Glenn Maxwell was rested to manage workload.&nbsp;Marsh still believes Australia were ready for the World Cup tune-up series.&nbsp;&quot;These are very important times in both teams&#39; preparations for the World Cup,&quot; said Marsh, whose team will be in Group B with Sri Lanka, Oman, Ireland and Zimbabwe.&nbsp;&quot;This is a very important series as the conditions are similar and that is against a quality side, so we will assess the situation and be clear about our plans ahead.&quot;

Pakistan face Australia in a three-match T20 series in Lahore as World Cup participation remains undecided, with both teams using the matches as preparation. Pakistan welcome back Shaheen Afridi, while Australia miss several injured players.

Articles tagged with "Twenty20 international"

Ayub star in Pakistan's win over Australia in first T20I

Pakistan face Australia with T20 World Cup participation uncertain