Australia in UAE 2012 (Pakistan) 2nd T20 Match Preview

Australia and Pakistan will face-off again in the 2nd T20 Match today and after winning the first one, Pakistan will be hoping to repeat their fine performance. Setting their sights on sealing the series, Pakistan's expectations must be higher than as ever. Sure this is due to their bowlers, especially the spin of Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Hafeez and the debutant Raza Hasan. The fast men, Sohail Tanvir and Umar Gul also have the potential to be effective with their famous yorkers.

Pakistan's bowlers did the required job on Wednesday and undoubtedly there seems no reason to change the winning combination. Shahid Afridi is likely to miss the action again due to his thumb injury. However, keeping World T20 in mind, the management may come up with different options. In this case, all-rounder Shoaib Malik could be replaced with counterpart Abdul Razzaq.

Australian batsmen will have to be at their best if they stand any chance of winning. The second match is expected to be the toughest match of the series because the Aussies would giving their best to level the series while Pakistan on the other hand will be hoping to take an unassailable lead in the series.

In cricket, things change very fast and just two days after winning the ODI series, the Australians find themselves with a lot to prove as to what they are capable of in the shortest format of the game. The depth in their batting order did not do justice to the runs achieved in the first match.

The larger boundaries at Dubai would again be a factor and Australia will need far more than a few boundaries they managed in the first game. They need to have a strong opening partnership to get more runs on the board which would help their bowlers defend against an energetic Pakistan side.

Considerable pressure is mounting up on Bailey while a relatively calm Hafeez finds himself (at least for today's game) in a comfortable position.

For the 9th ranked Australians, its tough going as a loss in today's game will drag them below Ireland and if so, the only team below them will be Zimbabwe. Therefore, they must put any bad memories of the 1st game behind and strive for a better show to turn the team's fortune around. They have made three changes to the bowling line-up but it is in the batting order that they need a lift.

The big victory in first T20 match after 2-1 loss in the preceding one-day series, has marked Pakistan out as one of the favorites for the ICC World Twenty20, starting in Sri Lanka from September 18.

Dubai's pitch is again expected to assist the spinners. "There's no doubt that the wicket is only going to turn more," Shane Watson said ahead of the second game.

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
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