Pakistan’s middle-order problems fail to go away and were laid bare by Australia’s second-string bowling attack, which included two debutants, in the first T20I on a sunny afternoon in Lahore on Thursday.

They hosts eventually posted 168-8, which was enough for a 22-run victory, but their middle order will need to step up in the next two matches — their last competitive fixtures before the Twenty20 World Cup.

Among the 12 full-member nations that play Test cricket, the combined average of Pakistan batters from numbers four to seven of 19.68 is the second-worst and their strike rate of 121.85 is the third-worst since the conclusion of the 2024 T20 World Cup.

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