Spencer Johnson's first five-for in T20Is led Australia to a hard-fought victory over Pakistan in Sydney, clinching a series success with a match to spare.

Johnson took the wickets of Mohammad Rizwan (16), Sahibzada Farhan (5), Usman Khan (52), Salman Agha (0) and Abbas Afridi (4) as Australia followed up their 29-run win in Thursday's rain-affected opener.

The momentum swung back and forth as both teams' batters struggled on a difficult surface, with Haris Rauf finishing with figures of 4-22 for Pakistan.

No Australia batter managed more than the 32 runs of opener Matthew Short, and they found themselves bundled out for 149, losing their last five wickets for just 53 runs.

However, Pakistan were dropped to 44-4 by the middle of their ninth over, with Johnson clearing up the tourists' captain Rizwan and vice-captain Salman with successive deliveries.

Usman's fine knock of 52 off 38 balls – including four fours and one maximum – dragged Pakistan back into contention, but he was beaten by the pace of another Johnson delivery with four overs remaining. 

Pakistan ultimately needed 16 runs off the final over to level up the series, but their hopes were ended when Rauf was run out following a calamitous mix-up with Irfan Khan (37 not out), which saw both batters almost finish at the bowler's end.

Australia are victorious in the second T20I by 13 runs.#AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/zc3ccn1eno

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) November 16, 2024

Data Debrief: Australia on a roll

Australia entered this series having won just one of their last four bilateral T20I series against Pakistan, triumphing 2-0 in 2019 but losing the other three.

Regardless of the outcome of Monday's third match in Tasmania, the hosts have backed up that triumph, extending their unbeaten run across all men's T20I series to five (four wins, one draw). 

They last enjoyed a streak of this length between November 2018 and February 2020 (also four wins, one draw).