Saim Ayub does the job with both bat and ball to take Pakistan past Australia

In the opening T20I against Australia, Saim Ayub was everything you would want in a player. He was the top scorer. He was quick, quicker than any player across both teams. He was sharp in the field. And finally, he managed to grab two wickets, one of which was Travis Head’s, within the power play.

It was only fitting that Saim’s all-round performance ended with a win and a Player of the Match award.

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Australia tour of Pakistan, 2026 Jan 29 to Feb 01

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January 29, 2026 6:00 pm Result

Pakistan won by 22 runs

Australia

146/8 (20)

Pakistan

168/8 (20)

January 31, 2026 6:00 pm Upcoming

Match starts at Jan 31, 11:00 GMT

Australia

 

Pakistan

 

Saim Ayub did the bulk of the scoring

Batting first, Pakistan lost Sahibzada Farhan on the first ball of the innings. From there, Saim paired up with captain Salman Ali Agha to take Pakistan to 56/1 by the end of the powerplay. The pair went on to add 18 more runs in the next 10 balls before Saim holed out an Adam Zampa delivery to the long-on fielder and returned with 40 off 28 balls.

Soon after, Salman also fell to Zampa and left the run-scoring job to Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam, both of whom looked unusually out of touch. They had trouble connecting the ball and timing their shots, which caused the run rate to bog down. The surface not only slowed down the run flow but also aided bowlers in removing batsmen. Zampa and Xavier Bartlett looked extra threatening, as the pair shared six wickets between them.

After Babar and Fakhar, the remaining batters could only add 38 runs, bringing the total to 168 by the end of the first innings.

Australian batters couldn’t get going

If run-scoring was difficult for Pakistan, it was even more so for Australia. Saim Ayub drew first blood in the second over by dismissing Matt Short, and struck again in the next, sending Head, who looked in the mood for smashing, packing.

Like Saim, Abrar Ahmed put Australia on the back foot with his spin, reaping the rewards of the pitch. He grabbed a couple of wickets and made it extremely difficult for the Australian batters to score against him, conceding only 10 runs in four overs.

Xavier Bartlett tried to rejuvenate Australia’s chances late in the innings, scoring 34 off 25 balls, but by that time, the game had slipped beyond repair. Pakistan eventually won the game by 22 runs.

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