Dominant bowling performance , magical fielding moments and great batting display by Alyssa Healy made it easy for Australia to clean sweep Pakistan 3-0 in the T20 series.
Meg Lanning missed the match because of her minor lower back injury and her deputy Rachael Haynes got the chance to lead the side. Left arm spinner Jesse Jonassen came in place of Lanning in playing XI.
Once again Australia invited the host to bat first and the poor batting showcase from Pakistani team continued.
Australian pacers Schutt and Perry bowled brilliantly upfront and the Pakistan openers Nahida and Javeria were under lot of pressure as runs were not coming and it was Haynes direct throw that ended Javeria’s inning in the 3rd over . Captain Haynes was setting example for her teammates to follow .
In the 5th over other opener Nahida Khan’s inning ended after she got caught by Perry on Schutt’s ball and then in the 6th over young Omaima Sohail handed a simple catch to bowler Perry . Former skipper Bismah Maroof made 49 run partnership with Aliya Riaz but it came at a very slow runrate . Both of them got run out and none other was able to make any impact and Pakistan only managed 97 runs in 20 Overs. Megan Schutt took 2 wickets giving away only 15 in her quota of 4 overs.
For the second straight time or to be precise in the whole tour Pakistan’s batting department disappointed .
In form batswomen Alyssa Healy began the chase in her familiar manner . She hit 2 boundaries in the very first over . Even Mooney was taking every scoring opportunity she came across . Both of them were getting boundary in almost every over . In between Nida Dar bowled a maiden over and in the 8th over the 60 run partnership ended when Mooney got out by Natalia Pervaiz but by this time Australia was in total control and it was a matter of few more overs as Alyssa Healy and Gardner finished the match in 10.2 Overs.
Alyssa Healy made 67 runs in 41 balls hitting 10 fours and 2 sixes and for this scintillating performance she was adjudged as Player of the Match.
Alyssa Healy and young start Omaima Sohail was chosen as Player of the Series.
BRIEF SCORES:
Pakistan Women: 97/8 in 20.0 Overs { Bismah Maroof 34(43) , Aliya RIaz 17(29) ; Megan Schutt 2/15 }
Australia Women : 98/1 in 10.2 Overs { Alyssa Healy 67*(41) , Beth Mooney 21(16) ; Natalia Pervaiz 1/17 }
In this whole tour Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner alongside with spinners Sophie Molineux and Georgia Wareham were stand out performers. Whereas Pakistan will be happy to find a new star Omaima Sohail but they have lot of worries before the World Cup that they will try solve.
And Australia will be going in the World Cup as no. 1 team in the world and they will fly tomorrow to Caribbean to continue their preparation for the World Cup . Moreover Lanning’s injury will be of some concern as Australia will play two warm up games against competitive teams England and South Africa before taking on against Pakistan in their first group match on Nov 9 .