Pakistan bounced back superbly after a close defeat in the first game. Haris Rauf blew away the Australian middle-order before fifties from openers Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique propelled Pakistan to a resounding victory in the second ODI of the three-match series.
After winning the toss and opting to bowl first, Pakistan had an iffy start in the first couple of overs. Matthew Short struck a boundary in the opening over before Jake Fraser-McGurk hit three fours off Naseem Shah in the second. However, they recovered quickly as Shaheen trapped Fraser-McGurk in front in the third over. Short hit one straight to cover to give the Pakistan left-arm pacer his second scalp.
Steve Smith and Josh Inglis tried to put Australia back on track but the introduction of Haris Rauf changed the complexion of the game. He almost had Smith in his first over as Ayub dropped the former Australia captain at backward point. However, Rauf who conceded nine in his first over took two wickets in his following two overs. Inglis was strangled down leg before Marnus Labuschagne got a beauty which he nicked.
Mohammad Hasnain got the all-important wicket of Smith. The latter survived a close LBW call which was umpire’s call on hitting (original decision was not out) in the 21st over but he didn’t last too long post that. Hasnain had Smith caught behind off the very next ball as Australia slipped to 101/5.
Rauf came back for his second spell and got rid of the last two recognized batters in Aaron Hardie and Glenn Maxwell. The 31-year-old fast bowler completed his five-wicket haul with the wicket of Pat Cummins. Adam Zampa chipped in with 18 runs towards the end before Shaheen wrapped things up in the 35th over. Pakistan dropped as many as three catches but their bowlers were outstanding. They were also helped by some poor strokes by the Australian batters.
Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique almost finish the chase for Pakistan
Chasing 164, Pakistan had a quiet start. They were 26 off the first seven overs but they didn’t lose any wickets. Ayub was 6 off 24 at that stage while Shafique was batting on 12 off 19.
While the scoring rate wasn’t the best, they didn’t offer any chances either. But slowly, the Pakistan openers shifted gears. Shafique started finding the boundary frequently before Ayub started opening up.
The Pakistan left-handed opener hit Mitchell Starc for two fours and a six in an over after the powerplay before he got stuck into Aaron Hardie and Adam Zampa. Ayub who was dropped by Zampa at third-man (when on 47) raised his maiden ODI half-century.
Shafique hit a couple of sixes as well before he lost his opening partner. Zampa was the one who gave Australia the breakthrough as Ayub was caught at point. That also brought an end to an excellent 137-run opening stand which came off just 20.2 overs.
Babar Azam walked in and remained not out on 15 while Shafique was unbeaten on 64. Pakistan won by nine wickets and 26.3 overs to spare. They have now squared the series 1-1.
Australia will be under pressure, considering the fact that all the senior players will be unavailable for the final ODI. Josh Inglis will lead the side. Their last ODI series defeat against Pakistan at home was back in 2002.
BRIEF SCORES: Australia 163 all out (Steve Smith 35, Matthew Short 19, Haris Rauf 5/29, Shaheen Shah Afridi 3/26) lost to Pakistan 169/1 (Saim Ayub 82, Abdullah Shafique 64*, Adam Zampa 1/44) by nine wickets.
