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Summary
Pakistan 167/8 (Umar Akmal 64)Australia 144/10 (Warner 41, Ajmal 3-26, Aamer 3-27) Pakistan beat Australia by 23 runsPakistan has avenged their ICC T20 World Cup defeat against Australia. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Star middle order batsmen Umar Akmal once again outperformed and played the key role in Pakistans batting.Australia could not start confidently and lost two early wickets. After the poor start Warner and Hussey steadied the Australian innings. But after Husseys departure, the Australian wickets fell at regular intervals and Australia was dismissed for 144.Spin Wizard Ajmal and pace man Aamer bagged in three wickets each.The next T20 game between Pakistan and Australia will be played on Tuesday (6th July). Earlier during the day, Umar Akmal recorded the fastest Twenty20 half-century by a Pakistan player and pushed the team to a competitive 167 for 8 in the first of their neutral-venue games against Australia. Umar finished with 64 off 30 balls and while Australia will feel the target is gettable, it was a strong comeback from Pakistan after a top-order stumble.The crowd was dominated by Pakistan fans and they were in awe as Umar blasted his way to a 20-ball half-century and his highest score in Twenty20 internationals. The highlight of his innings was a pair of sixes straight down the ground off Steven Smith, but his ability to the find the gaps and invent ways of scoring was remarkable.Captain Shahid Afridi and opener Shahzaib Hassan went out on ducks. Shoaib Mailk put a contribution of 21 and Salman Butt 23.
