T20I winning streak
Flickr photo by South African Tourism shared under a Creative Commons (BY 2.0) license.

Pakistan’s T20I winning streak comes to an abrupt end

Alvina Ahmed·
Twenty20 (T20)
·1 Comment·

Despite Babar Azam’s masterclass against South Africa, Pakistan’s winning streak in T20I series could not be salvaged…

After losing the first T20I against South Africa in a tightly-contested encounter, Pakistan were looking forward to levelling the series in the match on Sunday. This was their only chance to save their winning streak in T20I series. The team’s run of consecutive wins had already been broken while chasing in the first game – but luck seemed to favour the hosts again.

Before the match, Pakistan hadn’t lost a single series since the World T20 in 2016. The team seemed unbeatable until the T20I series against South Africa. After Pakistan won the toss in the 2nd T20I, they chose to field first yet again – and surprisingly enough, the bowling unit failed to impress. A line-up that’s considered one of the strongest in the world was thrashed by the South Africans, with David Miller the pick of the bunch after his unbeaten 65 off 29 balls. In the last ten overs, Pakistani bowlers conceded a whopping 127 runs. Usman Shinwari’s final over was particularly expensive, giving away 29 runs.

Pakistan were brought back in the game by Babar Azam, who gave the team a blistering start with three consecutive boundaries off the first three balls of the innings. And that was only the first of multiple hat-tricks of fours that Azam went on to hit in the innings. Babar’s batting was nothing less than a treat to watch for cricket fans. Sadly, his beautiful innings came to an end in the 17th over as he departed after scoring 90 off 58 balls.

Pakistan’s chances of winning would’ve stayed alive had the set batsman at the other end not lost his touch. Talat repeatedly failed to connect with the ball until he was dismissed for 55 off 41. The match was delicately poised till the end, with Pakistan requiring 15 to win from the last over. Much to their dismay, Pakistan failed to get over the line and lost by 7 runs.

It’s tough to determine exactly when Pakistan lost the match. Nonetheless, there were weak points to address in both their bowling and their batting. Shinwari’s disastrous last over proved to be the difference at the end. Babar did what he could to keep his team in the game by giving them the kind of start one rarely sees from Pakistan. However, Pakistan clearly lacked a finisher – one who could’ve helped them cross the line. Babar’s masterclass innings, possibly the greatest T20I innings in recent memory, ended up being for a losing cause.

The series’ last and final T20I will be played on Wednesday. South Africa will be eyeing a clean-sweep after breaking Pakistan’s winning streak. The Green Shirts, on the other hand, will be looking to save face by avoiding defeat. As painful as these losses have been for Pakistani fans, a 3-0 defeat will only add fuel to fire. Let’s wait and see who emerges on top in the last T20I.