Australia will be hosted by England in a T20I series that will see them play Pakistan twice in a couple of days at Birmingham.

Australia and Pakistan have played each other three times this year and all the games have been won by the Aussies. Despite that, they are only marginally ahead of Pakistan as favourites to win the series, with Ladbrokes offering 7/4 for their win. Totesports gives 4/1 if Pakistan manage to put two across the Aussies, but it is a 1-1 draw that is the most favoured result as William Hill offers 11/10 for the same.

In the first game, the Aussies will look to unleash the pace troika of Dirk Nannes, Shaun Tait and the injury-free Mitchell Johnson at the Pakistani batsmen. The Pakistanis had shown that they struggle against genuine pace even on their previous tour of Australia. So, it will be interesting to see how the likes of Salman Butt (7/2 at Ladbrokes) and Shahid Afridi (7/1 at Ladbrokes, both to top-score for Pakistan in the first T20I) continue with their form with the bat, even as the rest of the order looks a tad shaky.

The Australian batting have had problems of their own in this format of the game. Despite Michael Clarke’s (11/2 at Blue Square) return to form in the ODIs preceding this series, he will know that the two formats are as different from each other as chalk is from cheese. To me, the more important batsmen for Australia will be the likes of Cameron White (13/2 at Bet365) and Michael Hussey (8/1 at Ladbrokes, all to top-score for Australia in the first T20I), both of whom have had a reasonable say in T20 cricket.

Given the recent form exhibited by Australia in this format of the game, it will be fair to say that the Aussies will go into the series as favourites. However, in a two-game series of a format that is still considered a lottery by many of the critics, it is difficult to pick a clear winner. So, a 1-1 draw looks the most likely result on the cards.

Tips:
Series result: 1-1 (11/10 at William Hill)
Top Australia batsman: Michael Hussey (8/1 at Ladbrokes)
Top Pakistan batsman: Umar Akmal (5/1 at Sky Bet)