Match Details
Ovaise: Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first. The bowling from Pakistan was sensational from the word go. Head was dismissed of the very first ball by an excellent delivery by Shaheen Afridi, Finch too was sent back to the dressing room on a duck. Australia were 0-2 in 1.1 overs. Alex Carey and Chris Green rebuilt the innings after Australia were five down for 67 but that didn't carry for too long as Green was dismissed. Carey got a fifty and Abbott hammered the bowlers all around the park towards the end and contributed with a valuable knock of 49 and took Australia beyond the 200 run mark.
There was hint of reverse and the Pakistani seamers used it to good effect. The pitch was not as good as we have seen previously in this series. Mohammad Waseem Jr and Haris Rauf picked up 3 wickets each and Shaheen Afridi chipped in with 2 wickets as well and never allowed the Australian batters to settle. Australia finished with 210 on the board.
Pakistan came out to bat and were brilliant in the powerplay, Apart from Fakhar Zaman’s wicket, Australia didn’t have much to celebrate. Zaman was dismissed on 17 after taking Pakistan off to a blistering start. Babar Azam joined Imam in the middle and the two put on a mammoth partnership and took Pakistan past the 100 and then the 200 mark. The Australian bowlers toiled hard, they tried everything at this two but nothing seemed to work, Only Nathan Ellis was able to pick up the solitary wicket.
Imam ended with 89 just 11 short of the three-figure mark, Azam on the other hand got to a magnificent century in the 36th over, the pair took Pakistan past the finishing line. The dew had kicked in and batting was a lot easier compared to the first innings. Pakistan eased towards the 211 mark, It was a very poor performance today by Australia both in the bat and in the field. Australians definitely missed a few senior players today and things could have been a lot different had Austra played with full strength, They went onto the field with a fairly in-experienced bowling line up. Pakistan have won the match by 9 wickets and have also won ODI series 2-1. We move to the T20 series now.