Pakistan did not get the title of 'unpredictable' just like that. Making easy matches difficult. Or taking the match away from the opponent – who can do these things better than Pakistan? Australia sweated hard to win against Pakistan in the first ODI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) today.
Pakistan started a new era in white ball cricket today under the leadership of Mohammad Rizwan. Despite the target of 204 runs, Pakistan led by Rizwan kept Australia under a lot of pressure. In the end, captain Pat Cummins' effective innings of 32 runs from 31 balls allowed Australia to win by 2 wickets. The hosts won with 99 balls to spare. After 7 years in international cricket, Pakistan could not win against Australia even after coming close to winning. Pakistan beat Australia by 6 wickets in Melbourne ODI in 2017.
Australia started playing in the traditional ODI mood to chase runs. At the beginning, the hosts were in trouble. Australia became 28 runs for 2 wickets in 4 overs. Opener Mathew is out short for 1 run. Jake Fraser McGurk was very aggressive and took the wicket. This young Australian opener scored 16 runs off 14 balls.
Australia could have lost the third wicket by 54 runs. Josh Inglis went to cut Nasim Shah in the third ball of the ninth over. ODI debutant Irfan Khan misses the fast ball in the foul area. Australia scored 61 runs for 2 wickets in the first powerplay.
English contributed to a partnership of 85 runs in 75 balls with Steve Smith for the third wicket. Haris Rauf broke this pair. Smith went to uppercut Harris on the third ball of the 17th over. Another debutant Pakistani cricketer Saim Ayub took a great catch by jumping backward point in ODI. Smith scored 44 runs off 46 balls with 6 fours.
Australia became more desperate after breaking the third wicket pair. Inglis and Marnus Labuschagne made a pair of 26 runs off 19 balls for the fourth wicket. Shaheen Shah Afridi has more credit for breaking this pair than Irfan. English's pooled ball ran a lot and Irfan palmed it at deep mid-wicket. Inglis scored 49 runs in 42 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes. Australia's innings began to break down from here. Ajira turned from 139 runs for 4 wickets to 139 runs for 6 wickets instantly. Where Rauf sent back Labushanne and Glenn Maxwell in the first two balls of the 21st over.
Despite having the necessary overs in hand, Australia was disoriented by Pakistan's aggressive bowling. Aaron Hardy was brilliantly bowled by Mohammad Hasnain in the first ball of the 26th over. When Hardy got out with 10 runs from 19 balls, Australia scored 155 runs for 7 wickets in 25.1 overs. Dropping to number 9, Cummins hit a four off his first ball. Cummins contributed to a 27-ball partnership with Sean Abbott for the eighth wicket. Australia were 185 for 8 in 29.4 overs after Abbott (13) was caught in a run-out trap. Even with 122 balls in hand, 19 runs seemed very difficult. From there, Cummins and Starc made an inseparable pair of 19 runs. Where Cummins gave Starc worthy support by dropping to number 10 and scoring 2 runs off 12 balls. First ball of the 34th over, Cummins hit Hasnain straight down the ground for four to level the score. Cummins pushed the winning run to point on the third ball of this over.
Australia's best bowler Mitchell Starc was the man of the match. He took 3 wickets by bowling 10 overs and costing 33 runs. This Australian left-handed pacer has also given 3 over maidens.
Earlier, Australian captain Cummins decided to field after winning the toss. After losing the toss and batting first, Pakistan were bowled out for 203 runs in 46.3 overs. Rizwan scored maximum 44 runs in the innings. He is also serving as the team's wicketkeeper. He hit 2 fours and 1 six in an innings of 71 balls. Nasim scored the second highest 40 runs. He hit 4 sixes and 1 four in an innings of 39 balls. It was mainly because of his innings that Pakistan could cross 200 at the end.
