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Australia were certainly put to the test bit Pat Cummins’ calm knock under pressure gave the Aussies the win over Pakistan in the 1st ODI.
Australia’s Pat Cummins (R), and Mitchell Starc (L) walk off the ground after their win over Pakistan during their 1st ODI match in Melbourne. (Image: AP)
The Australian side led by Pat Cummins took the win by two wickets in a low-scoring affair at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday for the 1st ODI.
After winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, Australia looked to take advantage of the two-paced nature of the pitch. Mitchell Starc was on the money with the new ball as he got rid of the Pakistan opening pair of Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub by the seventh over of the innings.
Under-fire Babar Azam, alongside the newly appointed skipper Mohammad Rizwan looked to stabilise the innings but the former fell for 37 runs with the leg-spinner, Adam Zampa getting the big wicket.
Rizwan also looked to push on ahead but the part-timer, Marnus Labuschagne got the big wicket of the Pakistan skipper who missed out on his half-century by six runs. But in the end, Naseem Shah managed to give Pakistan a scoring boost with a handy 40 runs scored in 39 balls to help Pakistan set a target of 204 runs.
The chase was not going to be a breeze for Australia as Shaheen Afridi alongside Shah got the early wickets of Australia’s opening pair, Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk. But Steve Smith along with Josh Inglis stitched an 85-run partnership to stabilise the chase.
But Haris Rauf struck in the middle overs to get rid of the Australian batting middle-order with three wickets to blow the game wide open. The fast-bowler got the wickets of Smith on 44, Labuschagne on 15 and Glenn Maxwell for a first-ball duck to give the visitors a chance for a comeback.
But Cummins showcased his calmness under pressure as he scored 32 runs to take the win in the opening ODI. The two sides will now head to Adelaide for the second T20I, set to be played on November 8.
Rizwan will be keen on making a massive impression as the captain of the white-ball side and hopes that they can put in a better performance in the upcoming game to level the series.
- Location :
Melbourne, Australia
