'We’ve come here to win the series' – Aaron Finch

Billy Stanlake’s 4/8 and captain Aaron Finch’s 68* off 33 helped Australia romp to a commanding victory over Pakistan in the second game of the Twenty20 International tri-series in Harare on 2 July. Their aggressive approach was exactly what the team required after the disastrous tour of England.

This win was Australia’s first under the new coach Justin Langer and put an end to the team’s six-match losing streak in limited-overs cricket. The towering Stanlake troubled the Pakistan batsmen with extra bounce and got all of his wickets with the batsmen trying to fend off short balls.

“My role is to be aggressive upfront and take wickets in the Powerplay and make it hard for the opposition to get on a roll,” he said. “I’ve probably had faster spells, but the main thing is to take early wickets.

“We had a disappointing tour of the UK. [So it is] great for us to get a nice start in the series … The key message we’ve been talking about is doing the simple things well, stick to our strengths. And that probably got away from us in England.”

“The tone the bowlers set with the ball on a pretty good wicket was fantastic. To see them be aggressive and bowl fast was nice,” said Finch. “[We] just bowled aggressively and I hung on to some catches. You know how important it is to get wickets in the Powerplay in T20s.

“We've come here to win the series. We've been putting in plans, it did not come off in England. It was a pretty polished performance here.”

Stanlake bowled all four of his overs on the trot with the new ball, and by the time he finished his spell in the seventh over Pakistan had already lost four wickets with just 24 runs on the board. He said he was happy to do so again if the captain asked for it.

“With the early wickets, Finch kept going with me. It’s the first time I have bowled out in one go. Finch was terrific in the field and with the bat,” he said.

Stanlake was referring to Finch's one-handed stunner to dismiss Hussain Talat and two other catches he took standing at first slip. Then, the captain and opener struck a rapid-fire half-century, studded with four fours and six sixes.

Finch’s attacking innings supported by D’Arcy Short (15) and Travis Head (20) helped Australia chase the target of 117 in just 10.5 overs. "At times, when you're chasing a small total, you try to break the game open," said Finch after the game. "If you manage to break the game open, suddenly you’re chasing four or five runs per over and that makes it a lot easier."

Sarfraz Ahmed, the Pakistan captain, was understandably disappointed after the loss and conceded that Pakistan lost too many wickets in the Powerplay. “Toss is very important, if you lose too many wickets in first six overs, you can't survive in the match,” he said.

“Credit to Stanlake, he bowled with pace and bounce. [We have got] plenty to work on.”