MELBOURNE: Skipper Pat Cummins played a gutsy knock under pressure and steered Australia to a hard-fought two-wicket victory over Pakistan in the first ODI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here on Monday.
Chasing 204, the home side had to make hard yards to chase down the total in 33.3 overs.
Put into bat first, Pakistan’s batting unit struggled against a ruthless Australian bowling attack and could accumulate 203 before getting bundled out in the 47th over.
The visitors got off to a shaky start to their innings as they lost debutant opener Saim Ayub (1) in the third over with just three runs on the board.
His opening partner Abdullah Shafique tasted 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 Pat Cummins’ decision to introduce spin turned the tide in Australia’s favour as Adam Zampa got rid of star batter Babar Azam 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 with a 71-ball 44, which featured two fours and a six.
Debutant middle-order batter Muhammad Irfan Khan then put together a crucial partnership with Shaheen Shah Afridi.
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 was then involved in another crucial partnership when he, alongside Naseem Shah, added 27 runs for the eighth wicket.
The debutant, however, had an agonizing 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.
He smashed 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 Pat Cummins with two each. Sean Abbott and Marnus Labuschagne made one scalp apiece.
