Australia vs Pakistan, 2019: 3rd T20I – Pakistan's toughest year, Australia's unbeaten 2019, Babar Azam falls short of world record and more stats

Australia registered their maiden multi-game T20I series win against Pakistan as they won the Perth T20I by 10 wickets to seal the 3-match series with 2-0 lead. On a pacey Perth track, Pakistan was restricted to 106/8 out of which Iftikhar Ahmed alone scoring 45 from 37 deliveries. The home team’s openers David Warner and Aaron Finch didn’t let the Pakistan bowlers dominate at any point. They eventually finished the game unbeaten with 49 balls to spare.

All the statistical highlights from Australia’s 2-0 win in the T20I series against Pakistan:

Pakistan’s toughest period in T20Is:

1 – Pakistan has won only one T20I out of the ten they played in 2019. They lost eight T20Is this year and another game ended in a washout. No other team has won as few as one match in a calendar year after having played at least ten matches.

Pakistan’s win-loss ratio of 0.125 in 2019 is also the lowest for any team in a calendar year where they played at least ten T20I games. Incidentally, Pakistan won 17 T20Is last year at a win-loss ratio of 8.500. Both are the best for any team in the T20I format in a calendar year.

7 – For the first time in their T20I history, Pakistan failed to register a win in seven consecutive matches. Their previous biggest streak was six successive defeats after the 2010 WT20.

Australia’s best year in the shorter format:

8 – Australia end 2019 by remaining undefeated in the T20I format. They featured in 8 matches this year winning in seven and the other ending in a washout when they were only 11 balls away from a win.

The 8 matches Australia played in 2019 without a defeat are the most by any team in a calendar year. Afghanistan won all the seven T20Is they played in 2018; the previous record holders of most T20I wins in a year without losing one.

A rare 10-wicket win for Australia:

2 – Only the 2nd time Australia won a T20I match by 10 wickets margin. The other 10-wicket win for Aussies in this format was back in 2007 WT20 against Sri Lanka while chasing a target of 102.

Australia barely loses a wicket:

3 – Number of wickets Australia lost in this series; the fewest by any team in a T20I series/tournament. (Min: 3 matches played) The previous fewest was six wickets also by Australia during the series against Sri Lanka played last week.

100.33 – Australia’s average in this series of 100.33 is the highest for any team in a T20I series/tournament where they batted three or more innings. Australia broke their own record as they averaged 82.66 runs per wicket during the 3-match series against Sri Lanka last week.

Finch’s captain’s knock:

7 – Number of fifty-plus scores as captain for Aaron Finch in T20I cricket; the joint 2nd most by any captain in this format. Faf du Plessis has 8 scores in excess of 50 in T20Is while Kane Williamson also has seven fifties.

Babar falls short of a record:

1607 – Babar Azam finished with 1607 Twenty20 runs this year; the 3rd most T20 runs for any player in a calendar year. Only Chris Gayle with 1665 runs in 2015 and Virat Kohli with 1614 runs in 2016 are ahead of Babar. The Perth T20I was the last time he batted in a T20 this year scoring only six runs.