Melbourne (Australia):Pakistan still have to wait for their ODI match victory in Australia after the hosts emerged triumphant in the closely fought encounter by two wickets at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here on Monday, November 3, 2024.
Pakistan last won an ODI match in Australia on 15 Jan 2017 when they successfully chased down a 221-run target against the hosts at the same venue.
Australia were chasing a 204-run target and they achieved the total successfully with two wickets to spare. However, it wasn't the easiest win for the hosts as they were reeling at 155/7 at one point. It was captain Pat Cummins who held the nerve and once again saw Australia reach home in a tense chase.
The hosts lost their openers Matt Short (1) and Jake Fraser McGurk (16) cheaply. But the partnership between Josh Inglis and Steve Smith set a tone to register a comprehensive win. Both looked in full control, the runs were coming easily and made batting look easy. Then pacer Haris Rauf came on into the attack and turned the game on his head with his fiery spell. He rushed the batters and took three quick wickets to leave Australia reeling. Shaheen Afridi and Hasnain too chipped in and Australia slipped to 155/7 from 112/2.
Then Cummins and Abbott added 30 crucial runs before the latter was run out. Rizwan brought Rauf back on then for one final spell but Cummins and Mitchell Starc saw it through with a composed partnership. The Australian captain was so cool and helped his side go 1-0 up.
Rizwan impressed everyone with his captaincy as he made some exceptional bowling changes that helped his side to make it close encounter. Notably, this was his first-ever international match as a captain.
Earlier, Pakistan's top order misfired on yet another occasion as they lost wickets at regular intervals. The opening partnership lasted for only 16 balls as Saim Ayub lost his wicket to left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc. Starc then removed another opener, Abdullah Shafiq for 12 runs. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan displayed some resilience but failed to convert their starts into big scores. Babar made 37 off 44 balls with the help of four boundaries before getting out., followed by Kamran Ghulam who departed for one run as the visitors were struggling at 70/4.
Rizwan was going slow, but steady and suddenly he attempted a desperate sweep shot against part-timer Marnus Labuschagne just to give a sitter to wicketkeeper Josh Inglis. However, Pakistan received small contributions from their bowlers including Shaheen Shah Afridi (24), Irfan Khan (22), and Naseem Shah (40) which saw them cross the 200-run mark.
Australia took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The second ODI will be played on November 8, 2024, at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide.
