Hafeez scored his 29th ODI fifty
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Pakistan stand-in captain Mohammad Hafeez led by example as he struck a brilliant 72 to lead his side to a comfortable six-wicket win over Australia in Melbourne.
Hafeez also brought Pakistan level at 1-1 in the series and ended Pakistan’s 12-year losing streak in ODIs in Australia as prior to this, they had lost their last nine ODIs Down Under. In fact, their last win in an ODI against Australia came all the way back in January 2005 in Perth.
Choosing to bat first, Australia got off to a rocky start as opener David Warner was caught behind for 16 off the bowling of Junaid Khan, who had not played ODI cricket since May 2015 prior to this match.
Warner’s opening partner, Usman Khawaja, only made 17 before falling to Junaid, while Mitchell Marsh was dismissed by Mohammad Amir for a golden duck.
With Australia reeling at 41/3, captain Steve Smith and Travis Head kept Pakistan at bay temporarily with a 45-run partnership before Head was caught behind off the bowling of Hasan Ali for 29.
Glenn Maxwell managed to make an encouraging 23 before he was cleaned up by Imad Wasim.
Smith and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade settled things down with a 65-run partnership, during which Smith registered his half-century.
However, he was unable to convert it into a bigger score as he was clean bowled by Wasim for 60, which came off 101 balls and included two boundaries.
Smith made his 16th ODI fifty
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Wade went on to make 35 before the lower order collapsed. As a result, Australia were bowled out for 220.
Amir was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Junaid and Wasim snapped up two wickets apiece. Hasan and Shoaib Malik, meanwhile, chipped in with one wicket each.
Chasing 221 to win, Pakistan got off to a fantastic start as Hafeez and Sharjeel Khan amassed a 68-run partnership before Sharjeel was caught behind off the bowling of James Faulkner for 29.
Hafeez and Babar Azam kept the runs flowing with a 72-run stand, during which Hafeez surpassed his half-century, before Azam was dismissed by Mitchell Starc for 34.
Hafeez’s innings came to an end in the next over as he became Faulkner’s second victim after scoring 72 off 104 balls, which included eight boundaries.
Despite the loss of Hafeez, Pakistan continued to cruise to victory as Malik and Asad Shafiq put together a 53-run partnership to leave the tourists within touching distance of victory.
Even though Shafiq ended up being caught behind off the bowling of Starc, Malik went on to guide Pakistan to victory with 14 balls to spare and finished unbeaten on 42.
Faulkner and Starc claimed two wickets each.
Smith was disappointed to have lost, and said: “Went a little bit too hard with the bat. Ordinary with the bat in this first two games, aside from Wade’s hundred. Need to build partnerships, haven’t done that in the past two games. We’ve been 3 or 4 down when the spinners came on, we haven’t been able to play naturally against them. Was always going to be tough, tried as hard as we can. 40 runs short, was a 260 wicket. Outplayed by Pakistan. Chris Lynn’s quite sore, someone may come into the squad for him.”
Hafeez, who was named Man of the Match, was thrilled to have levelled the series at 1-1, and said: “The boys did a great job, our bowlers did a great job, they got wickets at the right times. We love them, and they love us a lot (the crowd). This is the way to move forward, we have everything to win the series. Missed an opportunity in the last game.”