Visitors easily chase down 221 with Mohammad Hafeez contributing 72 after a superb effort by the bowlers restricted the hosts.

By Abdullah Ansari (15th January, 2017)

Toss: Australia won the toss and chose to bat.

Teams:

Australia: DA Warner, UT Khawaja, SPD Smith (c), TM Head, MR Marsh, GJ Maxwell, MS Wade, JP Faulkner, PJ Cummins, MA Starc, JR Hazlewood.

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan.

Australia Innings

Smith won the toss once again and opted to bat first with both teams making a few changes. Amir opened the bowling with the returning Junaid who was making a comeback after over a year and a half outside the ODI team. The two bowlers combined to bowl a few tight overs upfront and Junaid struck in his third over, getting Warner after a testing over as the opener edged one behind, dismissed for 16. The pacer struck again in his next over, getting Khawaja as he tried to play one to third man but only succeeded in hitting it towards first slip, where Sharjeel took a superb catch. Next over, Amir made the breakthrough as Marsh drived one uppishly, straight to Imad at cover. Smith and Head put on a partnership with the latter once again putting the bowlers to the sword whenever they erred in length. Hasan brought an end to his innings as he tried to drive one too many throught the covers and edged it behind after making 29. Smith continued on but was circumspect while Maxwell took the attack to the bowlers in his usual fashion.

Maxwell didn't survive long however, as he came down the pitch and missed the ball from Imad, bowled for 23. Wade once again got going with Smith but the run-rate was kept under control by the Pakistan bowlers despite Hafeez's attacking fields as the bowlers bowled according to the plans. The bowling changes kept coming as Hafeez tried to devise a method to end the partnership as it surpassed fifty. Into the last ten overs, the batsmen started attacking a bit and that gave Pakistan a chance. Imad was the one who got Smith after he reached a pain-staking fifty, as he chopped one onto his stumps. Malik got Wade in the next over to derail Australia's final push and two overs later, Junaid ran out Starc after a good bit of fielding off his own bowling. He should have had Cummins' wicket but the umpire didn't detect the healthy edge - however, the batsman was caught behind in the next over after a sharp Amir bouncer. The innings was wrapped up via another short delivery to Faulkner by Amir and the ball looped up for an easy catch as the hosts were bowled out for 220.

Fall Of Wickets

1-31 (Warner, 5.5 ov)
2-40 (Khawaja, 7.6 ov)
3-41 (Marsh, 8.5 ov)
4-86 (Head, 17.2 ov)
5-128 (Maxwell, 26.2 ov)
6-193 (Smith, 42.3 ov)
7-199 (Wade, 43.4 ov)
8-207 (Starc, 45.4 ov)
9-212 (Cummins, 46.5 ov)
10-220 (Faulkner, 48.2 ov)

Pakistan Innings

Pakistan's chase began with a new opening pair and Mohammad Hafeez should've been out in the first over as he drove at one from Starc - but Smith grassed the chance. The Pakistan captain was circumspect, playing the role Azhar normally plays in the lineup and looking to tie down an end for the first few overs. Sharjeel in the meantime went for his shots, getting a few fours away every now and then. The batsmen played out the first 10 overs without many incidents and then Hafeez started going after the bowlers a bit more, ensuring that part-timer Head specially couldn't settle down as he was taken off after one over. The partnership reached fifty but in the 15th over, Sharjeel was the first man to fall for the visitors as he tried to run the ball down to third man off Faulkner but nicked it behind for a catch for 29. Babar played one sumptious straight drive but he played a slew of dot balls as well as the two batsmen tried to form another partnership. Hafeez brought up his fifty with a superb flick over square-leg as he drove Pakistan's chase.

Hafeez gave Cummins a chance soon thereafter in the field with a lofted shot but the bowler could only get a hand to it. Babar soon fell after making 34 as he tried to ramp one over third man but the fielder at the boundary took the catch just inside the boundary. Hafeez fell in the next over as he tried to loft Faulkner but was caught after making 72 off 104 balls. Malik was given out caught behind early in his innings but reviewed the decision - it was overturned as he didn't hit it. The veteran batsman then began guiding the chase with regular boundaries despite Shafiq's struggles at the other end. Shafiq's poor knock finally came to an end as he went after a wide one from Starc and was caught behind for 13 off 29 balls. Umar came out firing and together with Malik, guided Pakistan to a comprehensive six-wicket win with 14 balls to spare.

Fall Of Wickets

1-68 (Sharjeel Khan, 14.3 ov)
2-140 (Babar Azam, 30.3 ov)
3-142 (Mohammad Hafeez, 31.5 ov)
4-195 (Asad Shafiq, 42.5 ov)

Match Summary:

A superb win for Pakistan, set up by an excellent bowling performance and some aggressive captaincy by Hafeez who ensured Australia were never given an easy passage to run away with the game. The opening bowlers were excellent with their first spells while the likes of Imad bowled according to the plans as the runs were kept down despite frequent aggressive fields. In the chase, Hafeez almost gave it away in the first over but capitalised on the dropped catch to play a good knock while Malik kept his cool with the pressure building to finish the game for Pakistan. A win for the visitors after a long time in Australia, and one that is invaluable considering the ODI rankings and the fight for the 2019 World Cup qualification.

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