Australia beat Pakistan by a couple of wickets and 16.3 overs in hand. A 85-run stand between Steve Smith and Josh Inglis was followed up by an Australian collapse before Pat Cummins rescued the hosts with the bat in hand to chase down a tricky 204-run target at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Brief Scores: PAK: 203 [ Rizwan: 44, Naseem: 40; Starc: 3/33] lost to AUS: 204/8 [Inglis: 49, Smith: 44; Rauf: 3/59] by 2 wickets.
Resuming an action-packed Australian summer with a Pakistan ODI series, Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to field first in pleasant MCG conditions. He starred with the new ball along with Mitchell Starc, who removed the Pakistan openers early inside a 35-run first powerplay. With Mohammad Rizwan assisting Babar Azam, the third-wicket partnership ended at 39 with Adam Zampa cleaning up the former Pakistan captain in the 18th over. Cummins removed Kamran Ghulam in the next over leaving the visitors at 70/4 in 19 overs. Their current run rate surged below with time as Australia rotated their spinners and medium pacers, highlighted by Marnus Labuschagne outsmarting a well-set Rizwan with a top-spin delivery in his only over. With Pakistan’s score reading 117/6 by the 32nd over, Shaheen Afridi and Nassem Shah assaulted the opposition with Irfan Khan holding one end. The trio added 86 runs together to propel the scoreboard to 203 in 46.4 overs.
Similar to their counterparts, the hosts lost a couple of early wickets, courtesy of Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah’s tight lines. Despite the score reading 28/2, the pacers failed to capitalize on the exerted pressure as Steve Smith and Josh Inglis employed a calculative approach to keep the scoreboard moving with occasional boundaries. A few edgy boundaries and wayward deliveries from Haris Rauf and Mohammad Hasnain helped the Kangaroos reach the 100-run mark by the 15th over itself. A drinks break followed and Haris Rauf broke the 85-run by getting rid of Steve Smith. Soon after, Josh Inglis threw away his wicket for 49 off Shaheen Afridi’s bowling, paving the way for a collapse with Rauf getting two-in-two in the next over. Suddenly, Australia’s score read 139/6 and they were in a spot of bother with two youngsters Sean Abbott and Aaron Hardie at either end. But the latter perished in a while making way for Captain Cummins with the bat. The pair milked their ways to keep the scoreboard ticking and bring the required runs near 20. However, a lackluster running from Aaron Hardie cost Australia another wicket with the score reading 185/8 in 30 overs. But as long as a calm-headed Cummins was present, the match was in Australia’s court. He cautiously bailed them out of adversity as the Aussies ended up with a two-wicket win.
Not easy Kamran!
