Spencer Johnson has taken a record haul to lead Australia to a 13-run victory over Pakistan at the SCG on Saturday night, sealing a series victory with one match still to play.
Defending 9-147, the 28-year-old set up the win with a stunning 5-26 — three wickets more than his previous best figures, and the new best overall in the format by an Aussie pace bowler.
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But the end of a spell that took down four of Pakistan’s top five, including Muhammad Rizwan (16) and Salman Agha (duck) with successive balls before he dismissed the fighting Usman Khan (52), almost turned the match.
Adam Zampa (2-19) took two wickets in the very next over to reduce the tourists to 8-107, still needing 41 runs from 18 balls.
Nathan Ellis was thrown the ball and immediately bowled two wides before Irfan Khan struck two boundaries and a six — reducing Pakistan’s ask to just 25 runs needed from 15 deliveries.
Ellis steadied to finish the over and Pakistan’s resistance was all but ended in the next when Sufiyan Muqeem was run out for a one-ball duck on a miscommunication.
The night belonged to Australia and player of the match Johnson, whose impressive performance surpassed the best T20I figures of Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Josh Hazlewood and all other pacemen to represent the country.
MATCH CENTRE: Australia v Pakistan scorecard, stats and ball-by-ball commentary
Johnson’s haul made him only the sixth bowler to take five wickets in a T20 match for Australia, and usurped James Faulkner’s 5-27 from 2016 as the best by a quick.
Making the feat even more remarkable was that Johnson’s first over went wicketless and for 12 runs, as he sprayed a ball to first slip and gave away five wides to the fine-leg boundary.
But from there the left-armer delivered with his first ever white-ball five-wicket haul at domestic or international level.
“It’s every kid’s dream to play for Australia,” Johnson said.
“It’s an opportunity I don’t take lightly, I’m very privileged to be wearing the green and gold.
“You never know when your last game’s going to be for Australia so every game is a bonus, and hopefully I can play a couple more.”
Johnson paid tribute to his bowling partners, with Zampa in turn celebrating the big man’s potential.
“It’s great to have him fit,” the star spinner told Fox Sports.
“He bowls fast, he hasn’t played a lot of cricket too so the more he plays he’ll get better. He’s very impressive.”
Earlier, Australia squandered a red-hot start from Matt Short (32 from 17) and Jake Fraser-McGurk (20 from nine).
The pair blasted 47 runs off the first 15 deliveries before losing 9-100 from the next 105 balls of the innings.
Australia hit as many boundaries in that first 2.3 overs as they did the rest of the innings, with the pair both pulling the ball over the legside rope.
But the game changed when McGurk was caught trying to jump and uppercut Haris Rauf, and Josh Inglis was caught behind for a duck two balls later.
From there wickets fell regularly as Pakistan took the pace off the ball, and Rauf finished with figures of 4-22 to take his tally of wickets for the tour to 15.
Meanwhile, Zampa, who is now 36 wickets clear of Starc for most T20 wickets for Australia, said the victory put any ‘B-team’ talk to bed.
“We don’t feel like the B-team here,” he said.
“You see these guys in the Big Bash and everyone says when they’re scoring runs and taking wickets they should be playing more for Australia.
“And when they do play for Australia, they shouldn’t be. It’s great to have them out there, I wouldn’t say they’re B cricketers at all.”
The T20 series wraps up on Monday night in Hobart before the focus turns to the Test series against India beginning on Friday.
– with AAP
