Pakistan hammer Australia by nine wickets in 2nd ODI

ADELAIDE: Pakistan clinched a historic nine-wicket win against Australia in the second of the three-match series here at the Adelaide Oval on Friday.

Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan opted to field first in the second ODI and fielded an unchanged Playing XI, meanwhile, Australia made one change as Josh Hazlewood replaced Sean Abbott.

Rizwan, in his first series as Pakistan’s white-ball captain, was involved in six of those dismissals, equalling the world record for most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in a one day international.

He could have had a seventh catch but spilled a skier from Adam Zampa late in the Australian innings.

Saim Ayub hit 82 and forged a 137-run opening stand with Abdullah Shafique as Pakistan reached the target in 26.3 overs.

“I’ve been bowling here for the Melbourne Stars, I know the pitch, I know the length,” Rauf said during the break between innings, referring to his stint in the Big Bash League. “I just wanted to get the breakthrough for Pakistan.”

Earlier, Jake Fraser-McGurk (13) and Matthew Short (19) both got off to a good start, hitting three boundaries each, however, Shaheen Afridi dismissed both batters inside seven overs with 41 runs on the board.

Steve Smith and Josh Inglis (18) helped stabilise the Australian innings with a solid partnership of 38 runs from 44 balls before Haris Rauf got Inglis caught behind.

Haris picked the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne (6) in his next over to further increase Australia’s troubles.

Smith played a cautious knock of 35 runs from 48 balls, which featured five boundaries and one six, before falling prey to Mohammad Hasnain.

Also read: Australia beat Pakistan by two wickets in thriller

Aaron Hardie (14) and Glenn Maxwell (16) added crucial 20 runs for the six-wicket before the dramatic collapse, which saw Australia fall from 121-5 to 146-9 in quick succession.

Shaheen took the final wicket of Adam Zampa, who played a crucial 18-run cameo to push Australia’s total to 163.

Haris led Pakistan’s bowling attack with figures of 5-29, while Shaheen took 3-26. Naseem and Hasnain chipped in with one wicket each.

Pakistan and Australia will face off in the third game at Perth on November 10.

The ODI series will be followed by a three-match T20I series with the first game scheduled for November 14 at The Gabba in Brisbane.

Australia: Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Steve Smith, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (capt), Kamran Ghulam, Agha Salman, Irfan Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain