Australia beat Pakistan by two wickets in a nail-biting fixture in the first ODI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Monday.
Chasing a modest 204-run target set out by the Green Shirts, the Kangaroos had to fight their way against the Pakistani bowling unit to secure a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.
The hosts had a shaky start to the pursuit as their openers Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matthew Short perished inside four overs with just 28 runs on the board.
But, a solid 85-run partnership between Steve Smith and Josh Inglis put Australia in a dominant position.
However, despite Haris Rauf’s three wickets and two that of Shaheen Afridi, Australian skipper Pat Cummins (32*) dug in to help his side across the line in the 34th over.
Earlier in the day, put to bat first by the hosts, Pakistan had a rather dismal start to their innings against a ruthless Australian bowling attack and could accumulate 203 before getting bundled out in the 47th over.
His opening partner Abdullah Shafique tasted a similar fate as he, too, was dismissed by Mitchell Starc, resulting in Pakistan slipping to 24-2 in 6.4 overs.
Following the early hiccup, skipper Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam forged a fighting partnership.
The duo appeared to have settled down, having added 39 runs for the third wicket.
But until Cummins’ decision to introduce spin turned the tide in Australia’s favour as Adam Zampa got rid of star batter Babar in the 18th over.
Babar scored a cautious 37 off 44 deliveries with the help of four boundaries.
His dismissal prompted a middle-order collapse as Pakistan lost three more wickets in quick succession, including that of their captain Rizwan, and thus slipped to 117-6 in 31.4 overs.
Rizwan remained the top-scorer for Pakistan scoring 44 runs for 71 balls, featuring two fours and a six.
Debutant middle-order batter Muhammad Irfan Khan then put together a crucial partnership with Shaheen.
The pair added 31 runs at a brisk pace amid their stand, which lasted with Shaheen’s dismissal off Starc in the 37th over.
Irfan then set out for another crucial partnership when he, alongside Naseem Shah, added 27 runs for the eighth wicket.
The debutant, however, had an agonising end to his brilliant innings as he got run out after scoring 22 off 35 deliveries.
Naseem Shah then launched an onslaught on the Australian bowlers and gave a late push to Pakistan’s total, courtesy of his quickfire cameo smashing one four and four sixes on his way to a 39-ball 40.
Starc led the way for Australia with three wickets, followed by Adam Zampa and Cummins with two each. Sean Abbott and Marnus Labuschagne made one scalp apiece.
