Australia defeated Pakistan by 10 wickets in the third and final T20I at Perth Stadium, and clinched the three-match series 2-0.

Australian captain Aaron Finch, after winning the toss, had said that he wanted to exploit the moisture in the pitch, and his bowlers couldn’t have done it better.

The extra bounce in the wicket, deemed “rock hard” by Waqar Younis, was surely taken advantage of by the hosts who often struggled to even put bat to ball. In fact, towards the end of the innings, tail-enders Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Hasnain combined for an 8-ball sequence when they swung and missed, again and again.

Towards the start, new opener Imam-ul-Haq started confidently, and with him looking good and Babar Azam being in exquisite form of late, a solid foundation was expected.

However, Mitchell Starc removed Babar and Mohammad Rizwan on back-to-back balls in the 3rd over, after which Pakistan batsmen’s trouble with bounce began. When that did not happen, they themselves planted catches in the hands of fielders. When they were a bit inaccurate with their offerings, the Aussies dived around and took some blinders.

In the second innings, it seemed that Australia were batting on an altogether different surface.

Aaron Finch and David Warner hardly broke a sweat in dealing with whatever Pakistan’s bowling unit hurled at them, much of which was wayward.

Finch scored a 36-ball 52 while Warner contributed a 35-ball 48 as Australia triumphed by 10 wickets and clinched the series with ease.

Teenage pacers Musa and Hasnain were both expensive, with the former leaking 39 runs and the latter 32.