Pakistan exposes glaring chinks in Australia during Melbourne ODI

Pat Cummins and his Australian side scampered to a two-wicket win in the first ODI against Pakistan on Monday. The visiting bowlers gave a good account for themselves led by Haris Rauf who picked 3 wickets. Naseem Shah bowled 7.1 overs before walking off the field clutching his hamstring in what will be anxious times for Pakistan. 

Chasing 204 to win, Australia lost the wickets of Matthew Short (1) and Jake Fraser-McGurk (16) early. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah picked the two wickets before Josh Inglis and Steve Smith joined forces to add 85 runs for the third wicket. Haris Rauf dismissed Smith for 44 caught by Saim Ayub at point. 

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Haris Rauf missed Hat-trick#AUSvsPAK#PAKvAUS#harisraufpic.twitter.com/S3uIU3zWmy

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Josh Inglis fell to Shaheen Afridi for 49 as the game began to turn. Haris Rauf bowled with fire as he dismissed Marnus Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell in successive balls. Mohammad Hasnain then went through the defenses of Aaron Hardie while Sean Abbott was run out for 13. Pat Cummins’ 32 not out off 31 balls saw his team through to 2 wicket win with 99 balls left. 

Lessons for India ahead of Border Gavaskar Trophy

It is likely that the Indian team management namely, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, and Morne Morkel would have been watching the game closely. One of the key aspects that was visible was that the Australians were troubled by the pace of the opposition bowlers. 

Naseem Shah in particular was nagging in his lines and lengths early and that caused the downfall of Jake Fraser-McGurk. The wicket of Steve Smith was also well planned as Mohammad Rizwan kept a point fielder just for the uppish shot. Haris Rauf bowled a wide short ball and Smith couldn’t help himself from playing a cut short and perished. 

Yet another key feature that was on show is the Australian batters tend to struggle with Travis Head not around. The left-handed batter has been rested for the entire series against Pakistan to prepare for the huge tour of India. 

Travis Head has been one of Australia’s best batters in the last few years. The 31-year-old has already scored two centuries in two ICC games against India. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, and Harshit Rana will be watching the happenings closely. If the Indian pacers can get their acts together, Rohit Sharma’s team could do something spectacular.