Pakistan fall short in chase of 370 despite Babar Azam's ton and 79 by Sharjeel Khan.

By Abdullah Ansari (26th January, 2017)

Toss: Australia won the toss and chose to bat.

Teams:

Australia: DA Warner, TM Head, SPD Smith (c), PSP Handscomb, GJ Maxwell, MS Wade, JP Faulkner, MA Starc, PJ Cummins, JR Hazlewood, A Zampa.

Pakistan: Azhar Ali (c), Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan.

Australia Innings

The home side won the toss for the 5th consecutive time in the series and opted to bat, with Head promoted to open as Faulkner replaced Khawaja. Amir bowled a peach of a delivery first up to Warner and the batsman got a thick outside edge wide of second slip, where Azhar got in a dive and got a hand to it but couldn't hang on. Warner's intentions were clear from the outset but Amir bowled a few good deliveries in the first few overs as the batsmen played and missed at a few. However, Warner ensured that the strike kept being rotated and soon enough, the boundaries started coming regularly. Pakistan took a review for caught behind off Amir's bowling but it only hit Warner's shoulder. The batsman took full toll when Hasan came on to bowl and Warner got to his fastest ODI half-century, off just 34 balls. Wahab and Hafeez combined to bowl a few tight overs but Warner shook the shackles with two sixes off the latter as Australia crossed 100. Pakistan looked to their lesser bowlers as the main ones failed to provide a breakthrough.

Warner got to his hundred just after the halfway point in the innings, off just 78 balls - once again, his fastest. Head had been quiet till now but came to the party as well, hitting boundaries of Malik and Amir. Warner was ruthless and motored along, though he gave Pakistan a simple catching chance on 130 - but Amir grassed the simple catch. Hasan continued to leak runs as Warner got to his 150 off only 107 balls. He began to cramp up a little as the partnership began to break records while Head got to a hundred off his own at the other end, off 121 balls. Warner's knock finally came to an end as he looked to cut away a slower ball from Junaid but Babar took a good low catch at backward point to dismiss him for 179 off 128 in a partnership of 284. Smith fell just two balls later as Wahab took a superb, tumbling catch. Amir got Maxwell as he hit one to the fielder in the deep as Australia began to lose wickets at the back end of the innings. The runs, however, kept on coming. Hasan got Wade caught at sweeper cover before Head's knock of 128 off 137 also came to an end. Handscomb also fell, off Wahab's bowling but Hasan bowled an expensive over to become only the second Pakistani bowler to concede 100 in an ODI innings. Starc was run out in the last overs as Australia finished at a massive 369/7.

Fall Of Wickets

1-284 (Warner, 41.3 ov)
2-288 (Smith, 41.5 ov)
3-323 (Maxwell, 44.5 ov)
4-336 (Wade, 46.2 ov)
5-342 (Head, 46.4 ov)
6-351 (Handscomb, 47.6 ov)
7-367 (Starc, 49.4 ov)

Pakistan Innings

Pakistan's innings began with Azhar once again dismissed early on as Starc bowled a full in-swinging delivery which he missed and was adjudged LBW. Sharjeel and Babar looked to settle down a bit and take their time, though the former got some superbly timed shots away soon enough to get going. The partnership soon crossed fifty despite Babar batting at a slow pace. Sharjeel held back against Zampa once the spinner was brought on as he carefully picked the deliveries to go after. He brought up a run-a-ball half-century, his third in a row in this ODI series with the hundred partnership also raised as the batsmen kept ticking over strike despite finding boundaries a bit harder to come by. Sharjeel finally went after Zampa, hitting him for two big sixes over mid-wicket. The Australians managed to get in a couple of tight overs and it paid off as Sharjeel perished just before the halfway mark of the innings. Starc banged in a short delivery, putting in some extra effort and it got big on Sharjeel as he tried to pull, only succeeding in top-edging it to the keeper after making 79 off 69.

Babar brought up a 75-ball fifty soon thereafter but the new man Hafeez didn't last long, getting caught in the slips off Starc's bowling for the umpteenth time. Babar batted at a higher tempo with the run-rate climbing, sending one whistling into the stands off Hazlewood's bowling. However, Cummins bowled a short delivery to Malik who took it on the arm and immediately looked to be in some pain - he retired hurt for 10. Babar then hit Faulkner for three consecutive boundaries and brought up his hundred off 107 balls, before he was caught at mid-on off Hazlewood two balls later. Umar looked to take on the bowlers and offered a chance but it was dropped. He hit a few boundaries but Rizwan failed once again as he cut one off Cummins, with Starc taking a brilliant diving catch in the deep. Umar and Amir made merry for a couple of overs before the former departed after making 46 as he tried to hit one square on the off-side but was caught behind off Cummins. A slower ball from Faulkner accounted for Amir as he looked to slog one and was caught. Hasan was stumped off Zampa's bowling after hitting a six and Starc got Wahab bowled in the last over as Pakistan were bowled out for 312.

Fall Of Wickets

1-10 (Azhar Ali, 2.4 ov)
2-140 (Sharjeel Khan, 24.4 ov)
3-145 (Mohammad Hafeez, 26.3 ov)
3-181* (Shoaib Malik, retired not out, 30.5 ov)
4-220 (Babar Azam, 36.4 ov)
5-246 (Mohammad Rizwan, 39.6 ov)
6-276 (Umar Akmal, 43.3 ov)
7-282 (Mohammad Amir, 44.4 ov)
8-312 (Hasan Ali, 48.6 ov)
9-312 (Wahab Riaz, 49.1 ov)

Match Summary:

Some encouraging signs for Pakistan but once again, Australia were the superior side by far. The visitors' bowling fell away after a decent start with Hasan Ali having the first really bad game of his career as David Warner went berserk while the fielding was below-par once again with misfields, overthrows and a Mohammad Amir dropped catch the main features until the fielders in the deep took a few catches at the end. Sharjeel Khan was the major positive for Pakistan, showing that he can play calculated knocks against good bowling sides while Babar Azam churned out the runs despite a slightly slower scoring rate at times. Better teams have lost series in Australia - the important thing for Pakistan going forward would be to learn their lessons and make the necessary changes in order to become a more competitive side.

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