Nawaz Stars as Pakistan Sweep Australia Cleanly in T20 Series

Pakistan completed a 3-0 whitewash in the home series against Australia by defeating them by 111 runs in the third and final T20 International at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday. Mohammad Nawaz led Pakistan’s bowling attack with an outstanding five-wicket haul, dismissing Australia for just 96 in 16.5 overs.

Australia were chasing a challenging target of 208, but they faced early struggles as their top-order batsmen struggled to get into form. Marcus Stoinis was the highest scorer with 23 off 22 balls, while Cameron Green added 22 runs and Josh Philippe contributed 14. All-rounder Marcus Stoinis had been the standout batter for Australia.

Nawaz spearheaded Pakistan’s bowling effort, taking five wickets for 18 from his four overs bowled. Shaheen Shah Afridi also chipped in with two wickets, while Abrar Ahmed and Naseem Shah claimed one each as Pakistan wrapped up the match comfortably.

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Captain Salman Ali Agha was instrumental, scoring 34 runs but fell for a single ball to Ben Dwarshuis at three balls into the innings. However, his early struggles were mitigated by an important partnership between opener Sahibzada Farhan (10) and Babar Azam (56), who added 69 runs in the middle order.

Babar’s partnership with Saim Ayub further stabilized the innings before Ayub was dismissed on the first ball of the 12th over. Shadab Khan provided a late surge, scoring 46 off 19 balls with seven boundaries and five sixes, including two more sixes in his final over.

For Australia, Ben Dwarshuis had been their most effective bowler with two wickets for 39, followed by Matthew Kuhnemann, Cameron Green, Cooper Connolly, and Matthew Short each taking one wicket.